A Ground Loop is a series of pipes buried underground at a depth where temperatures stay consistent year-round. It serves as the critical link allowing geothermal heat pumps to use the earth as a heat source or heat sink, depending on if heating or cooling is required.

Compatible with Ground Loops are Ground Heat Pump, as a source of abundant free heat, but the principle is largely the same. Check out the benefits of Heat Pumps, by clicking here.

How do Ground Loops work?

Just a few feet below the ground’s surface, the earth maintains a steady 50-55 degrees no matter what the temperature of the outside air. This difference in temperature allows the earth to act as a heat source in winter and a heat sink in summer. A geothermal heat pump (located inside the home) captures this energy by circulating thermally conductive fluid through the buried ground loop.

In winter, the fluid absorbs heat from the warmer earth and carries it into the heat pump, where it enters a heat exchanger and is used to warm your home. In summer, the process is reversed when the home’s heat is captured and released into the cooler ground, leaving your home comfortably air-conditioned.

What’s the difference between Shared Ground Loops and District Heating Networks?

A Shared Ground Loop is similar to a District Heating Network in that both use one communal ground loop to gather thermal energy from the ground. Where they differ is that a shared ground loop allows multiple individual heat pumps to be served by one ground loop, while in a Shared Ground Loop, the ground loop serves one or two large heat pumps which supply the heat for all properties in the network.