Geothermal Heat Pumps 

 
by U.S. Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)
(http://energy.gov/eere/femp/federal-energy-management-program)
Updated: 11-15-2016

INTRODUCTION
Geothermal heat pumps, also referred to as ground source heat
pumps or geo-exchange, refer to systems that use the ground, WITHIN THIS PAGE
groundwater, or surface water as a heat source or sink. Speci c Introduction
to their con guration, these systems are referred to as ground- Description
coupled heat pumps, groundwater heat pumps, and surface Application
water heat pumps, respectively. The rst successful commercial Operation and Maintenance
project was installed in the Commonwealth Building in Portland, Special Considerations
Oregon in 1946. As of 2004, the United States had 12 gigawatts Relevant Codes and Standards
of installed thermal capacity from geothermal heat pumps, with Additional Resources
an additional 80,000 units installed each year.
THIS PAGE SUPPORTED BY THE
Geothermal heat pumps use 25% to 50% less electricity than
conventional heating or cooling systems. Relative to air-source
heat pumps, they are quieter, last longer, need little maintenance,
and do not depend on the temperature of the outside air.
Considerations including utility rates for electricity, natural gas, (http://energy.gov/eere/femp/federal
or other fuels can impact decisions to implement this renewable-energy-projects-and-
technology. technologies)

While most sites throughout the United States can utilize

geothermal heat pump technologies, certain site characteristics will in uence the type of system most
suitable for a site. Available ground area, thermal conductivity of the surrounding soil, local ground
water availability and temperatures, or access to open water sources can further direct their use in a
project.


This overview is intended to provide speci c details for Federal agencies
considering geothermal heat pump technologies as part of a new
construction project or major renovation (/ffc/doe/criteria/guide-
integrating-renewable-energy-federal-construction). Further general
information is available from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) O ce
of Energy E ciency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Geothermal Heat
Pump Basics (http://energy.gov/eere/energybasics/articles/geothermal-
Geothermal heat pump system
heat-pump-basics).
in the Kiowa County Courthouse
building in Greensburg, Kansas

DESCRIPTION
A geothermal heat pump system is made up of several key components including:

Ground loop
Heat pump
Air delivery system.

The ground loop is a system of pipes that is buried in the shallow ground near the building. A uid
circulates through the ground loop to absorb or relinquish heat within the ground. In the winter, the heat
pump removes the heat from the uid in the pipe, concentrates it, and transfers it to the building. This
process is reversed in the summer. The air delivery system uses conventional ductwork or pipe
systems to distribute the heated or cooled air throughout the building.

How Does It Work?

Like refrigerators, heat pumps operate on the basic principle that uid absorbs heat when it evaporates
into a gas, and likewise gives off heat when it condenses back into a liquid. A geothermal heat pump
system can be used for both heating and cooling. The types of heat pumps that are adaptable to
geothermal energy are water-to-air and water-to-water. Heat pumps are available with heating
capacities of less than 3 kilowatts (kW) to over 1,500 kW.

Types And Costs Of Technology

Geothermal heat pump technologies can be utilized to meet both heating
and cooling needs in new construction as well as major renovation
projects. Incorporating these technologies into major renovation projects
will generally result in higher installation costs than in new construction
projects, but can operate at a greater e ciency than typical heating and
cooling units. Typical geothermal heat pump systems have a coe cient
of performance of 3.5 to 4.0, indicating that for every unit of electricity 
input to the compression, 3.5 to 4.0 units of heating, or cooling, are
produced. A common gas furnace, for example, has an equivalent Almost six million feet of 1 in.
coe cient of performance of 0.85. Depending on the existing heating and polyethylene piping was
installed with the heat
cooling systems in place, incorporating geothermal heat pump systems
exchangers at Fort Polk.
may not be feasible. Existing buildings with a dedicated boiler and central
air handling system are typically most applicable for retro t scenarios.

At the present time, ground-coupled and groundwater heat pump systems are the two main types of
geothermal heat pump systems that are being installed in great numbers in the United States—around
120,000 units per year. Groundwater aquifers and soil temperatures in the range of 40°F to 90°F (5°C to
30°C) are being used in these systems. Just about every state in the United States, especially in the
Midwest and eastern states are using these systems; in part, subsidized by public and private utilities.
It is estimated that over 1.0 million units (12 kW) are installed throughout the United States. Annual
growth rates are around 15%, the fastest of all the direct-use applications.

GROUND-COUPLED HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS

Also referred to as a closed-loop heat pump, the ground-coupled heat pump system consists of a
reversible vapor compression cycle that is coupled with a heat exchanger in the form of bore holes in
the ground. These types of systems can use both a water-to-air heat pump or a direct-expansion heat
pump.

The water-to-air con guration circulates water or a water and antifreeze solution through a liquid-to-
refrigerant heat exchanger and a series of buried thermoplastic piping. In comparison, the direct-
expansion heat pump circulates a refrigerant through a series of buried copper pipes. Both vertical and
horizontal heat exchanger con gurations are used in these applications.

Vertical wells generally consist of two small (3/4 in. to 1 in.) diameter high-density polyethylene tubes
in a vertical borehole lled with a solid medium, commonly referred to as grout. Boreholes typically
range from 50 to 600 ft, depending on the local site conditions, including soil thermal conductivity and
availability of equipment. Because of this con guration, vertical wells require relatively small areas of
land compared to horizontal trenches.

Horizontal wells generally require the greatest amount of ground area and can be further divided into
three subgroups: single-pipe, multiple-pipe, and spiral-slinky. Single-pipe horizontal ground-coupled
heat pumps are typically installed in a single trench to a depth of 4 to 6 ft. and require the most ground
area of the three. While the required ground area required for multiple pipes, consisting of two to six
pipes placed in a single trench, can be reduced, the total pipe length must be increased to overcome
the interference from adjacent pipes. Recommended trench lengths for the spiral pipe con guration
can be 20% to 30% of single pipe trench lengths, but may be increased to achieve greater thermal
performance.


Vertical con guration of a ground-coupled heat pump system

Horizontal con guration of a ground-coupled heat pump system

While the vertical well con guration can yield the most e cient ground-coupled heat pump
performance, due to reduced variability in soil temperature and thermal properties along with reduced
piping and associated pump energy, costs associated with vertical wells are typically more. The
expense of equipment required to drill the boreholes along with the limited availability of skilled
contractors also contributes to the higher costs. Because of the reduced installation costs, horizontal
trenches are widely used in residential applications. However, these systems generally operate at a
reduced e ciency due to the impact of seasonal soil property uctuations and higher pumping energy
requirements. Vertical systems are typically installed in large buildings with limited land area.

GROUNDWATER HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
Preceding the development of ground-coupled heat
pump systems, groundwater heat pump systems were
the most widely used type of geothermal heat pump
system. This type of system uses well or surface body
water as the heat exchange uid that circulates directly
through the heat pump system. Once it has circulated
through the system, the water returns to the ground
through the well, a recharge well, or surface discharge.

A typical groundwater heat pump system design

consists of a central water-to-water heat exchanger
between the groundwater and a closed water loop that
is connected to water-to-air heat pumps located in the
building. An alternate strategy is to circulate the ground
water through a heat recovery chiller that is isolated Con guration of a groundwater heat pump system

with a heat exchanger and used to heat and cool the

building through a distributed hydronic loop.

Many sites throughout the United States are well-suited for direct preconditioning using groundwater
heat pumps. Ground water temperatures below 60°F can be circulated through hydronic coils in series
or in parallel with heat pumps, thereby offsetting energy that would otherwise need to be generated
using mechanical refrigeration equipment. Under the right conditions, groundwater heat pump
systems can cost less than ground-coupled heat pump systems. This, along with the compact space
requirements for the water well and availability of water well contractors, has made this technology
popular in large commercial applications and has been used for decades.

Note that potential corrosion issues may require the installation of an intermediate plate-type heat
exchanger to protect the heat pump unit. This issue is site-speci c and should be evaluated where this
technology is being considered. This option is practical only where there is an adequate supply of
relatively clean water and all local codes and regulations regarding groundwater discharge are met.

SURFACE WATER HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS

While the thermal properties of surface water bodies are quite different than other geothermal heat
pump technologies, the applications and strategies are similar. Surface water heat pump systems can
be either closed-loop systems, similar to ground-coupled heat pumps or open-loop systems, similar to
groundwater heat pumps.

Closed-loop surface water heat pumps consist of water-to-air or water-to-water heat pumps connected
to piping loops placed directly in a lake, river, or other open body of water. A pump circulates water or a
water and antifreeze solution through the heat pump water-to-refrigerant heat exchanger and the
submerged piping loop which transfers heat to or from the body of water.

Open-loop surface water heat pumps can use surface
water bodies in a similar way that cooling towers are
used, but without the fan energy and required
maintenance. Lake water can be pumped directly to
water-to-air or water-to-water heat pumps.

Because of reduced excavation costs, closed-loop

surface water heat pumps can cost less than typical
ground-coupled heat pump systems. While these
systems have reduced pumping energy and operating
costs along with low maintenance requirements, there
is the possibility of coil damage in public lakes and
variable performance in small and shallow bodies of
water resulting from the wide uctuation of water
temperature. Con guration of a source water heat pump system

APPLICATION
Geothermal heat pump systems allow for design exibility and can be installed in both new and retro t
situations. Because the hardware requires less space than that needed by conventional heating,
ventilating, and air-conditioning systems, the equipment rooms can be greatly scaled down in size,
freeing space for productive use. Geothermal heat pump systems also provide excellent "zone" space
conditioning, allowing different parts of the home to be heated or cooled to different temperatures.

For water heating, you can add a desuperheater to a geothermal heat pump system. A desuperheater
is an auxiliary heat exchanger that uses superheated gases from the heat pump's compressor to heat
water. This hot water then circulates through a pipe to the home's storage water heater tank. In the
summer, the desuperheater uses the excess heat that would otherwise be expelled to the ground.
Therefore, when the geothermal heat pump runs frequently during the summer, it can provide
signi cant water heating capacity. During the fall, winter, and spring—when the desuperheater isn't
producing as much excess heat—the facility will need to rely more on traditional water heating
methods. Some manufacturers also offer triple-function geothermal heat pump systems, which
provide heating, cooling, and hot water. Of note, when a project is using a geothermal heat pump, it is
typically more economical to heat water through the heat pump and solar water heating
(/resources/solar-water-heating) may not be economic.

Economics
It is common for the geothermal heat pump industry to refer to costs for the ground source portion of
the system on a cost-per-ton basis. The table below, focuses on residential-scale systems tracks the
actual cost of installed geothermal heat pump systems in a 2008 review of the Indiana Residential
Geothermal Heat Pump Rebate program (http://www.in.gov/oed/ les/GHPProgramreport.pdf). 

COST BY GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMP SYSTEM TYPE

TONS TOTAL SYSTEMS HEAT PUMP ONLY

2 $12,285 $8,400

2.5 $13,483 $7,922

3 $13,719 $9,465

3.5 $13,297 $9,959

4 $13,969 $9,765

5 $16,865 $11,188

Total $14,278 $9,990

Information from the Indiana O ce of Energy and Defense Development.

In addition, according to a 2007 report to Congress on the Ground-Source Heat Pumps at Department
of Defense Facilities, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs of geothermal heat pumps at defense
facilities was estimated at $7.67 per ton per year. The life-cycle for the heat pump portion of the
system is similar to other heat pumps, but the below ground portion is designed to last at least 50
years.

Assessing Resource Availability

Geothermal heat pumps can be implemented anywhere in the United States, because they take
advantage of the nearly constant temperature of the shallow ground. They improve humidity control by
maintaining about 50% relative indoor humidity, making them very cost effective in humid areas.
Resource assessments for geothermal heat pump systems depend on the size of the project.

For small, closed loop projects, such as individual homes or businesses where the size of the
installation is approximately less than 6 tons (21 kW), little advanced investigations are normally
undertaken. Usually, only the local experience of designers and installers are sought along with any
geological or soil information that might be available.

For larger projects, a thermal conductivity test is normally run. This involves installing a loop in a typical
bore hole, grouting it, and then hooking the supply and return pipe to a machine that inputs heat into
the circulating water and then measures ow and temperature differences. The test is usually run
within 36 to 48 hours, and costs around $10,000 to perform. The number of tests for a large project will
depend upon the variability of the soil and rock conditions. For open loop systems using well water, the
well is pumped to determine ow rate and temperature. Normally, about three gallons per minute is
required for each ton (3.5 kW) of load.

OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE

Because geothermal heat pump systems have relatively few moving parts, and because those parts
are sheltered inside a building, they are durable and highly reliable. The underground piping often
carries warranties of 25 to 50 years, and the heat pumps often last 20 years or more. Since they usually
have no outdoor compressors, they are not susceptible to vandalism. The components in the living
space are easily accessible, which increases the convenience factor and helps ensure that the upkeep
is done on a timely basis.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Special considerations for geothermal heat pump systems include relevant codes and standards.

RELEVANT CODES AND STANDARDS

Design standards for geothermal direct-use systems typically involve two components:

1. Below-ground installation such as drilling wells, casing, and pumps

2. Above-ground installations such as pipelines, pumps, valves, heat exchangers, in-building heat
convectors, refrigeration equipment, and low temperature components such as heat pumps.

The below-ground equipment standards are usually speci ed for high temperatures (above 100°C)
resources by state and country regulations and standards that would require special values, such as
blow-out preventers and drilling muds. These are usually regulated and inspected by departments of
geology and mineral industries or local level organizations. Low temperature resources (below 100°C)
are usually regulated as standard water wells under the supervision of water resources departments or
similar agencies.

Above-ground installation equipment standards are generally not regulated by geothermal

requirements, but as standard off-the-shelf equipment. These standards are speci ed by agencies
such as the American Society of Testing and Materials and the American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers in the United States. Local building codes may also
control speci cations and installations. The majority of states have not adopted speci c codes or
standards for most closed loop systems.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Websites
European Geothermal Energy Council (http://egec.org/) provides information including policy,
publications, current project and up-to-date news relevant to the geothermal industry in Europe
and elsewhere.
Geo-Heat Center (http://www.oit.edu/orec/geo-heat-center), Oregon Institute of Technology
offers extensive information about geothermal, technical assistance to advance geothermal
development and publications available for downloading.
Geothermal Education O ce (http://geothermaleducation.org/) provides facts about geothermal,
view maps of geothermal energy use worldwide and purchase classroom materials.
DOE's Geothermal Energy Technologies O ce (http://energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geothermal-
energy-us-department-energy) researches, develops, and validates innovative and cost-
competitive technologies and tools to locate, access, and develop geothermal resources in the
United States.
Geothermal Heat Pumps (http://energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geothermal-heat-pumps) offers an
overview on the technology from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Heat Pumping Technologies / International Energy Agency
(http://heatpumpingtechnologies.org/) is an organization that supports implementation of heat
pumps and related technologies.
Policymakers' Guidebook for Geothermal Heating and Cooling Technologies
(http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy11osti/49477.pdf)  from the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory provides a ve-step process for implementation of geothermal policy and offers
resources to increase the use of geothermal heating and cooling technologies.
Stanford University Geothermal Program
(https://pangea.stanford.edu/researchgroups/geothermal/) provides a general overview of the
Stanford Geothermal Program and its research.

Organizations
Geothermal Resources Council (http://www.geothermal.org)
Geothermal Energy Association (http://www.geo-energy.org)
International Geothermal Association (http://www.geothermal-energy.org)
International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (https://igshpa.org/), Oklahoma State
University

Training
International Ground Source Heat Pump Association Training Courses and Workshops
(https://igshpa.org/training/), Oklahoma State University

National Geothermal Academy (http://www.gbcge.org/education-NGA.php), University of Nevada,
Reno