Ground source heat terminology

Sensors measure temperature, pressure, etc. The operation of the heat pump is adjusted on the basis of the sensor measurements.

Automation controls the operation of the heat pump’s compressor, circulation pumps and other peripherals based on the measurements.

See Coefficient of performance.

The kilowatt-hours (kWh) used in a year to heat a house and domestic water. The energy requirement includes the total electricity consumed by all of the electrical appliances in the house.

The indicative energy requirement distribution of a detached house could be, for example: heating 52%, domestic electricity 28%, domestic hot water 20%. In a ground source heated detached house, the production of heating and domestic hot water typically takes up 60% of the energy, and the domestic electricity takes up the rest.

The room sensor measures the indoor temperature of the property.

The effect of the room sensor on the adjustment result. If the effect is big, room temperature alterations have a greater impact on the adjustment result.

The expansion coil is a heat exchanger that transfers the heat collected from the ground to the refrigerant. In the expansion coil, the refrigerant turns from liquid into steam.

The inverter, or the frequency converter, can be used to control, for example, the heat pump’s compressor to reach the appropriate speed.

Cascade connection means connecting several heat pumps to operate in the same system such that they can be adjusted as one.

The heat pump uses the heating energy collected from the brine circuit. Usually from heat wells, horizontal piping to a field or other “residual” heat, for example, from exhaust air or some process.

A compressor increases the pressure of the vaporised refrigerant, simultaneously raising its temperature.

Refrigerant is a heat exchange agent used in the cold process. The state of the refrigerants used in heat pumps changes during the different stages of the process from liquid to gas and back. Gebwell heat pumps use R407C refrigerant in Qi and T206- T216 heat pumps, R513A refrigerant in Taurus Inverter Pro heat pump and R410A refrigerant in other heat pumps.

A charging pump transfers the heating energy created by the heat pump to heat domestic water or the property.

A condenser transfers heat from the refrigerant to heat the property or domestic water. The condenser also changes the state of the refrigerant from gas to liquid/a mixture of liquid and steam.

A dirt filter collects debris from water or brine. If the filter is blocked, circulation water pumps are unable to circulate water or brine in the system.

Seasonal Coefficient of Performance, or SCOP, indicates the efficiency of the ground source heat pump better than COP (see Coefficient of Performance) because it takes into account the variations between different heating periods.

SCOP is calculated for four different heating periods because the temperature intervals applied to the calculation, the basic temperature measurements and the dimensioning loads are seasonal.

In addition, geographical climate zones are taken into account when calculating the heat coefficients of ground source heat pumps. In northern Europe, the calculation of a heating period heat coefficient is based on the climate conditions of Helsinki.

For example, the Gebwell Aries 6 inverter ground source heat pump (0°/35°) has a SCOP value of 5.6. The corresponding SCOP value of the Aries 12 ground source heat pump is 5.8.

The ground source heat pump’s heating output is measured according to the building’s heating requirements either as partial or full power.

A heating circuit refers to a heating network or a part thereof, for example, the underfloor heating used to heat a house and garage heating may be separate (= heating circuits).

Heating water circulates in the heat pump and the heating network. Usually, heating water is also used to heat domestic water.

The heat recovery liquid is approx. 25-30% ethanol (i.e. spirits) that has been denatured, or made undrinkable using an additive. Normal water cannot be used as a heat recovery liquid because it would freeze in the ground source heat pump’s expansion coil and hence break the heat exchanger. The freezing point of the heat recovery liquid is below -15 Celsius.

A heat collection pump that circulates the heat recovery brine from the heat collection circuit to the expansion coil and back.

See charging pump.

The Coefficient Of Performance, or COP, of the heat pump is usually referred to as efficiency. COP indicated the ratio of the consumed and produced energy. The COP of an air source heat pump indicates how efficiency the consumed electrical energy can be converted into heat energy.

Formula: The heat energy received from a ground source heat pump (kW)/the electrical energy consumed by a ground source heat pump (kW) = COP. For example, COP 5 means that a 1 kW input power produces 5 kW of heat energy. The higher the figure, the more energy-efficient the device is.

You can reach the COP rating by conducting the measurements at a temperature of +7 degrees. Because of this, COP alone will not always yield reliable information about the functionality of a heating device, for example, in sub-zero temperatures.

When comparing COP ratings, it is a good idea to confirm the standard and conditions used in the calculation. The previously used SFS-EN 255 standard gives a better COP value than calculations performed using the official SFS-EN 14511 standard.

For example, the Gebwell Aries inverter ground source heat pump’s COP (0°/35°) is 4.8.

The heat curve determines the temperature of the heating water used by the ground source heat pump to heat the property. Usually, the heat curve has a specific inclination or several points, for example, if the outdoor temperature is -20 degrees, underfloor heating should be set somewhere between 30 and 35 degrees.

A heat well provides cooling energy to heat the property. In other words, ground cooling means that brine cooled in the heat well is used to cool down the property, for example, via a fan or ventilation.

An output pipe refers to the pipeline leading somewhere, for instance, the heating output pipe is the output pipe of the heating circuit.

The power (kW) of the electricity used by a ground source heat pump drawn from the mains in the nominal conditions. For example, the nominal input power of a Gebwell Aries 6 inverter ground source heat pump (0°/35°) is 0.78 and the nominal input power of an Aries 12 ground source heat pump (0°/35°) is 1.36.

(0°/35°) means the input powers in the examples were calculated in conditions where the temperature of the heat source, i.e. the brine circuit, is 0 degrees and the heat pump sends water at 35 degrees to the heating circuit.

A partial-power heat pump has enough capacity to heat the house at reasonably cold weather. In extreme cold, the pump’s internal heating resistors produce the extra heat required.

When acquiring a partial-power ground source heat pump, the amount of the required electrical energy increases, which slightly reduces the depth of the energy well. When getting a heating system, it is a good idea to investigate the effects of the ground source heat pump measurements on the total costs.

An expansion tank levels the liquid volume variation caused by the heating, cooling or brine circuit’s temperature differences.

A soft starter is usually a switch that replaces the contactor and starts, for example, the heat pump’s compressor such that the start does not create a loud click.

A fan converter is a device with a liquid-air heat exchanger and a fan. The fan circulates the room air through the heat exchanger. Fan converters are used for heating and cooling distribution. There are also combo devices that can both heat and cool.

A buffer tank compensates the running cycles of the heat pump and acts as a heat storage in pumps equipped with a change-over valve when the heat pump is heating water.

See Seasonal Coefficient of Performance.

Published by Suomen Standardoimisliitto, the SFS-EN 14511 standard sets the principles according to which the energy calculation of heat pumps intended for heating or cooling room spaces is made. The coefficient of performance, or COP, of heating devices is calculated in accordance with this standard.

An immersion heater that heats the water in the tank.

A valve that only allows flow in one direction.

In the cold process, superheating supply is the phase where the refrigerant does not contain steam but it is entirely gasified. A superheated refrigerant is hotter than the boiling temperature.

Desuperheating supply means that there is another heat exchanger before the condenser (= the de-superheating supply heat exchanger) that gives off a smaller amount of energy at a higher temperature, for example, to heat domestic water.

See buffer tank.

A heat pump that is measured at full power has enough power to heat a property even in extreme cold without having to produce the extra heat using heating resistors.

An outdoor sensor measures the temperature outdoors. The outdoor sensor is usually installed outside the house, usually on the north wall. The outdoor sensor sends the temperature information to the heat pump, which adjusts the heating of the property according to the outdoor temperature and the set heat curve.

The change-over valve turns the water flow to heating domestic water or the water circulating in the heating system.