The protocol for hot water use is based on the Building America Research Benchmark Definition (Hendron 2008 Hendron and Engebrecht 2010) which aims to capture the living habits of the average American household and its impact on energy consumption. This paper presents detailed analysis of a water to water ground source heat pump (WW-GSHP) to provide all the hot water needs in a 345 m 2 house located in DOE climate zone 4 (mixed-humid). Data and analyses are vital to better understand how WW-GSHPs may be further improved to enable the ground to be used as a renewable energy resource. Energy and exergy analysis of data collected continuously over a twelve month period provide performance metrics and sources of inherent systemic inefficiencies. The 5.275 (1.5-ton) water-to-water ground source heat pump (WW-GSHP) shared the same vertical bore with a 7.56 KW water-to-air ground source heat pump for space conditioning the same house.

The house is operated under simulated occupancy conditions in which the hot water use protocol is based on the Building America Research Benchmark Definition (Hendron 2008 Hendron and Engebrecht 2010) which captures the more » water consumption lifestyles of the average family in the United States. The case refers to a 345 m2 research house located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 36.01 N 84.26 W in a mixed-humid climate with HDD of 2218 C-days (3993 F-days) and CDD of 723 C-days (1301 F-days). The research findings suggest that the WA-GSHPs are a practical and viable technology to reduce primary energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions under the IECC 2012 Standard, as well as the European Union (EU) 2020 targets of using renewable energy = ,Įvidence is provided to support the view that greater than two-thirds of energy required to produce domestic hot water may be extracted from the ground which serves as renewable energy resource. Quantifying the sources of Exergy and energy losses is essential for further systemic improvements. Sources of systemic irreversibility, the main cause of lost work are identified using Exergy and energy analysis.

The WA-GSHP shared the same 94.5 m vertical bore ground loop with a separate water-to-water ground-source heat pump (WW-GSHP) for meeting domestic hot water needs in the same house. The average monthly electricity consumption for space conditioning was only 40 kWh at summer and winter thermostat set points of 24.4☌ and 21.7☌, respectively. Better than 75% of the energy needed for space heating was extracted from the ground. The practical feasibility of using the ground as a source of renewable energy is clearly demonstrated. This twelve-month field study analyzes the performance of a 7.56W (2.16- ton) water-to-air-ground source heat pump (WA-GSHP) to satisfy domestic space conditioning loads in a 253 m 2 house in a mixed-humid climate in the United States.

Carnot cycle heat pump heating a house