The earths surface stores a certain amount of heat when the sun shines on the ground
and the heat is absorbed into the earths surface, the average ground temperature found
in the UK is approx. 12°.
This heat can be extracted and utilised for home heating with the use of of underground
coils of pipes and ground source heat pumps.
The heat is extracted from the ground in a similar way to which the heat is extracted
from a refrigerator. (Have you ever noticed the finned coils on the back of a fridge getting
warm?) By the compression and evaporation of a special fluid, heat can be transferred
from one place to another.
The heat exchanger provides heat which is distributed around a building as in a
conventional heating system, but because the maximum heat output is usually around
55°, special low temperature radiators would need to be used or a wet under floor heating
system. The hot water would probably need to be boosted to 60°.
Because the system requires a certain amount of electricity to run the compressor and
Pump, the comparison between energy used and energy produced is described as the
Coefficient of Performance (CoP). The higher the CoP the better
An efficient heat pump should extract 2.5 - 3.5 kWh of heat from the ground for every
1 kWh used, hence the reason why ground source heat pumps are regarded as a type of
renewable energy.
Ideally, for the this system to be classed as fully renewable technology, the supplied
electricity should also be from renewable sources, i.e  via a green tariff.supplier.
Generally, this type of heating system can be more efficient than Oil, LPG and Electric
Storage Heaters, but more expensive than gas.

If you would like more information, advice or a FREE HOME SURVEY  for a Ground source
heating Installation don’t hesitate to contact us at enquiries@hipsurv.co.uk.