Anyone know anything about this "Heat Sump" business where you bury pipes inthe ground and it heats water up for domestic and heating purposes ?
Than you Brian , interesting stuff .
Fascinating, thank you David.
I don't know about heat sumps but what you briefly describe sounds like an earth source heat pump "pompes à chaleur géothermique". Essentially a circuit of pipe is buried in the ground. The circuit contains water and often antifreeze. This gathers heat from the ground which it transfers via a heat pump to your domestic heating.The fluid in the primary gathering circuit is at a low but constant temperature but contains substantial heat energy. For want of a better explanation the heat pump concentrates the heat energy to produce a second circuit at a higher temperature. This second circuit heats your home and either heats your domestic hot water or contributes to heating it (thus reducing your energy bill). You can also get air to water heat pump systems. We have one such which powers our underfloor heating and radiators on the bedroom floor. Although we would have probably had the land necessary to act as a gathering ground for a geothermic system the site is difficult and steep and difficult of access for earth moving equipment so we opted for an air water system. If you repost this enquiry in the Renovation and Construction Group you will probably have many more responses. There will inevitably be many conflicting opinions. One final point . We live here all year round so our system runs year round continually comparing the temperature of our underfloor matrix with the outside temperature. It wouldn't be a suitable system for a house occupied infrequently;
A heat sump is a heating system consisting of an electrical heating cable buried in foundation material beneath a concrete floor, whereby the material, sand or shale, under the floor stores the heat generated by the household heating system then gradually releases the heat through the floor day and night. It has no underground pipes, just cable.
Do you mean ground source heat pumps perhaps? GSHP is made up of buried pipes through which a liquid such as a refrigerant runs and absorbs heat from the ground. Another process uses the liquid to heat up another liquid, usually water, that is then pumped around the building to heat it. I know a couple of people who have their pools heated this way.
Both are carbon neutral. I think the latter is easier to find here in France. I have so far not heard of the former here in France but I know it at my sister-in-law's house in Switzerland. My bro-in-law had an American contractor he has dealings with in the USA install it. As for here. I suppose a web search will help if that is what you are after.