1. Love Free Energy from the Earth?
By Gerald McClain, DLC, IGSHPA
International Ground Source Heat Pump Association
International Ground Source Heat Pump Association
Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Ground Source Heat Pump Systems
1

2. How do you get earths energy renewed?
17% reflected
by clouds.
6% reflected
by surface.
19%
absorbed
by water
vapor, dust
46% absorbed by ground
Space
Atmosphere
Earth
100%
4% absorbed
by clouds.
The earth is like a solar battery absorbing nearly half of the sun’s energy.
The ground stays a relatively constant temperature through the seasons,
providing a warm source in winter & a cool heat sink in summer. Takes
about 3 months for cold or heat to reach 6-10 feet deep.
How do you get
earths energy
renewed?
Honor the
2

3. Earth is Like a Giant Solar Battery
• Absorbing nearly half of the sun’s
energy.
• The crust of earth stays at a
constant temperature of 40 to 70
degrees. Caves have been used by
humans and animals for years.
• Outside air temperature maybe -
10 to 110 degrees, but the
temperature of the ground stays
constant.
• Everyone has stored energy under
their feet. How do you get the free
energy out of the ground? Use a
GSHP system.
• Honor the Earth by using what
mother earth provides.
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4. GHP System Cooling Concept
4
Cooling-In the summer, the
system reverses and expels heat
from your building to the cooler
earth via the loop system.
Heat
moves
from warm
to cold.
HP
Ground Loop
Heat Pump
Heat Pump’s hot
refrigerant is sent thru
expansion valve cooling
refrigerant and sent as
cool air to your indoor
system for distribution.

5. 5
How the earth works to save you energy! Cooling
Geo4VA - U.S. Department of Energy's State Energy Program

6. GHP System Heating Concept
6
Heating-In winter, water
circulating inside a sealed
loop absorbs heat from the
earth.
Heat
moves
from warm
to cold.
HP
Ground Loop
Heat Pump
Heat Pump compresses
refrigerant to a higher
temperature and sent as
warm air to your indoor
system for distribution.

7. 7
61 F55 F
Air
98 F
118 F28 F
37 F
130 F
37 F
165 F
118 F
How the earth works to save you energy! Heating
Geo4VA - U.S. Department of Energy's State Energy Program
Source: Temperatures from Karl Oschsner
165 F

8. 8
What is the Underground Temperatures
on the Crust of the Earth in the USA?
62
In Oklahoma underground
temperature is about 62 Degrees

9. How to get the Energy from the Earth?
Using a Ground-Source Heat Pump (GHP) System
Closed Loop System
Horizontal Slinky
Slinky
Pump and Dump
Hybrid Systems
• Combination of a
geothermal HP with cooling
tower/boiler
• Where cooling/heating
needs are significantly
larger than GHP can supply.
• GHP will still provide
significant Energy savings
(Sometimes referred to as Earth-Energy Systems, Shallow Geothermal
or Geothermal Heat Pump Systems)
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10. Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About
Ground Source Heat Pump Systems
• Human civilizations have harnessed
ground source temperatures for
thousands of years.
• An early form of use of ground
temperature to keep warm was the cave
dweller, or troglodyte. Ref 1
• The Grotte du Vallonnet, a cave in
the French Riviera, was used by people
approximately one million years ago.
• Now, modern cave dwellers use the
temperature of the earth to heat and cool
their home by using the constant energy
from the earth.
• Learn how a Ground Source Heat Pump
System works. Ref 2
10

11. • Today’s Ground-source
(geothermal) Heat Pump
(GHP) systems are more
efficient systems than the
traditional cave dwellers.
• A GHP system has a method
of capturing the constant
temperature of the earth
though a ground loop.
Components of a GHP Ref 3
• Geothermal using “hot rocks
or lave flow” at + 212F to
produce steam to generate
electrical power is not GHP.
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12. • Ground Loops can be horizontal, or
vertical depending on available area.
• A Ground Loop is made out of High
Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipe the
same material that natural gas lines are
made of. HDPE pipe joints are all fused
together with joints stronger than the pipe.
• For his successful invention of HDPE
plastic pipe, Karl Ziegler was awarded the
1963 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
• Ground Loops are guaranteed to last over
50+ years. The polyethylene pipe
industry estimates a service life for
HDPE pipe to conservatively be 50-100
years.
• The Bird's Nest Stadium Ref 4 and other
Olympic venues for the 2008 Olympics
Ref 5 in Beijing, China used GHP
technology. Ref 6
Bird’s Nest Stadium
Beijing, China
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13. • Shallow Geothermal
temperatures at 30’
underground range from 40
degrees to 70 degrees.
• See the Energy
Department’s video Energy
101 Geothermal Heat
Pumps Ref 7 to find average
shallow geothermal
temperatures in your state or
hometown.
• Like LED lights, GHP is the
best heating, cooling and hot
water energy saving system
for the home or business.
13

14. • The GHP unit according to
American Society of Heating,
Refrigeration, and Air-
Conditioning Engineers
(ASHRAE) will last 24 years
as compared to a
conventional outside
heat/cooling unit lasting only
16 years.
• Because GHP systems Ref 8
have relatively few moving
parts, and because those
parts are sheltered inside a
building, they are durable and
highly reliable.
14

15. • Like a cave, the shallow ground
temperature is warmer than the air
above during the winter and cooler than
the outside air in the summer.
• A GHP extracts ground heat in the
winter (for heating) and transfers heat
back into the ground in the summer (for
cooling).
• Because a GHP system is so efficient, it
uses a lot less energy to maintain
comfortable indoor temperatures.
• According to the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Ref 9,
GHP can reduce energy consumption
up to 44% compared to air-source heat
pumps and up to 72% compared to
electric resistance heating with standard
air-conditioning equipment.
Lotte World
Tower
123 stories
South
Korea
15

16. • GHP systems reach fairly high Coefficient
of Performance (COP), 3 to 6, on the
coldest of winter nights, compared to
1.75-2.5 for air-source heat pumps on
cool days.
• GHP are among the most energy efficient
technologies Ref 10 for providing heating,
cooling and water heating.
• GHP systems use 3-5 parts of free
energy from the ground and 1 part
electric energy to run the system.
• Saving of 30 to 70% of energy for heating
and cooling and hot water for your home
or business.
• International Ground Source Heat Pump
Association (IGSHPA) Ref 11 conducts
research, creates & sells training
manuals, conducts training and
produces conferences.
400-600% Efficient
Coefficient of Performance (COP) of 4-6
1 kWh
energy
Yields:
4-6 kWh
energy for
Building
Plus 3-5
kWh energy
from GHP
16

17. • HDPE pipe reduces the need for
fittings, is excellent in shifting soils
and performs well in earthquake-
prone areas.
• Leak tight. HDPE heat-fused
joints create a homogenous,
monolithic system. The fusion
joint is stronger than the pipe.
• Before installing solar panels on a
home you should use the free
energy from the earth and save at
least 50% of the energy
requirements.
• By installing a GHP system first
you only need half as many solar
panels Ref 12 to achieve near net
zero energy usage.
50% free energy from
Father Sun
Goal near Net
Zero energy
50% free energy from
Mother Earth
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18. • GHP systems are
affordable considering
the amount of energy
you will save Ref 13
and the relative short
time of payback of 2-7
years.
• GHPs usually have no
outdoor compressors
or cooling towers, so
the potential for
vandalism is
eliminated.
Oklahoma State Capitol
has a GHP system
installed in 1990 by
Governor Henry Bellmon,
6 floors, ½ million SF, 400
boreholes, 200’ Deep.
18

19. warm
Cool
• The earth is like a giant
battery storing energy in the
summer and giving energy in
the winter.
• While producing lower
heating bills, GHP are quieter
than conventional systems
and improve humidity control
in homes.
• GHP systems allow for
design flexibility and can be
installed in both new and
retrofit situations.
• Get free energy from under
your feet by Installing your
own geo-exchange utility. Ref
14
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20. Love Free Energy from the Earth?
By Gerald McClain, DLC, IGSHP
Website: http://igshpa.org
International Ground Source Heat Pump Association
Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Ground Source Heat Pump Systems
20