Hot Water with a Residential Geothermal Heat Pump

Geothermal heat pumps can be used for more than just heating and cooling your home.   A geothermal heat pump can be used for hot water, snow melt, ice-making, and even pool heating.  Using a geothermal heat pump for hot water heating can actually make your heat pump even more efficient!

What you’ll need

If you plan on using your ground source heat pump for hot water you’ll need to add a desuperheater.   A desuperheater captures the heat that is naturally lost by running the heat pump.  As efficient as a geothermal heat pump is, there is a small amount of heat produced by the pump that is not used to heat your home.  A desuperheater captures this expended heat and pumps it to the hot water tank.

Aside from the desuperheater you will not need any additional components.  The desuperheater connects directly to the hot water tank drain.

Even More Savings

By using a geothermal heat pump for hot water heating you will greatly offset your current water bill costs.  A geothermal heat pump can provide enough heat to your hot water tank to prevent the boiler or watermark from running just to maintain the heat in the tank.

Adding a desuperheater will not diminish the efficiency of your geothermal heat pump, nor will it cause your heat pump to work any harder.  For most homeowners, utilizing a geothermal heat pump for hot water is a no-brainer.

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to TwitterAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Yahoo BuzzAdd to Newsvine

Comments (5)

 

  1. Arch says:

    When we first set up my Water Furnace last July I was very happy with my energy savings. I also had lots of hot water.
    The problem started as we rolled into fall. My electric bills
    leveled off and never fell below $100. After doing some checking I figured out what the problem was. The elements on the hotwater heater were working a lot more.
    They draw a lot of power. Since I had already had bought a Marathon hotwater heater I went looking for some sort of add on unit. I bought a Geyser heat pump water heater that hooks up to your water heater. We put it to work in Febuary. I also truned off the electricity to the water heater. Between the Water Furnace and the Geyser they kept me in hot water all winter. Now we roll into spring.
    This time my electric bills went down. My May bill was
    $84.50 and my June bill was $83.81. I am happy with what I have done. My propane and electric bill for the last year that I used propane was $4200. My electric bill for this last year was $1570. It will be cheaper next year because of the heat pump water heater. Just what I did.

    Take Care
    Arch

  2. russ says:

    A ASHP that is a dedicated hot water heater is a good deal with a COP of 2 or greater to be expected.

    My Air to water ASHP is set for 35 degrees C (95 F) which would satisfy no one - If I had a GSHP (which I looked at longinly) prior to purchasing the ASHP I would be getting no break on hot water costs at all.

    Either the water temp of the GSHP would have to be set high or the electric side of the water heater would have to come on.

    In the summer when the exhaust heat really is free - well I have yet to turn on the AC the past 2 summers.

    The free hot water line is a sucker punch for unsuspecting customers!

  3. Dean Meiser says:

    I put in a horizontal loop geothermal heat pump system in 2004. It was installed & looped into my electric hot water heater. I had never questioned it before, but what are the optimum low & high temperatures that the hot water heater thermostats should be set at in order for it to be used as a ‘storage’ tank while the geothermal system does the ‘work’ and the electric hot water heater doesn’t/rarely turns on?

  4. JameX says:

    I must say you have very interesting posts here.
    Your content should go viral. You need initial
    boost only. How to get massive traffic? Search for: Murgrabia’s tools go viral

  5. It’s interesting to learn that when it comes to a geothermal heat pump that there are somethings that we need to take into consideration. I am glad that you elaborated that one thing that we’ll need a desuperheater that will help capture the heat that is pumped. This is something that we will have to remember when we start looking for one, and then we will be able to get everything that we need.

Leave a Reply