Ask Experts Questions for FREE Help !
Ask
    vwdieseljunkie's Avatar
    vwdieseljunkie Posts: 107, Reputation: 13
    Junior Member
     
    #1

    Jan 15, 2009, 10:03 AM
    Heat pump and A/C theory for the Guru's
    I am posing this as a theoretical, based on my limited understanding of how exactly the systems work, so bear with me.

    I think I understand the basic function of an air conditioning system. Compression of a gas, pushed through an orifice or expansion tube, to decompress the gas into a lower pressured vessel, causes the cooling effect. Is this basically correct? The efficiency of the unit is based on it's ability to remove the heat from the compression side (evaporator?) to lower head pressure, and to remove the cold from the low pressure side (condenser?) as the desired product.

    Is a heat pump basically just an air conditioning unit run in reverse, in order to use the heat generated as the desired product?

    Now basing a theory on these two points, and having learned that the heat pump's capabilities become increasingly limited when the temperature outside drops below 40*F, as the air being passed over the outside unit is insufficiently warm enough to remove the cold produced by the unit (and why my unit has aux/emergency heat)...
    ... Why can you not simply have your outside unit plumbed into an evaporator that is buried below ground?

    One idea (granted, it's far fetched) would be to have such a grid in a sub-surface tank. Ground temperature water-over-coil vs. outside air-over-coil, using the fairly stable ground temperatures to maintain water temperature. Would this be feasible? Or would the ground not be able to transfer the heat/cold rapidly enough to be effective? (this is assuming there is some type of circulation of the water over the coil, mechanical or otherwise)

    Or has this concept been sufficiently beaten-to-death in the past? I tried to Google the concept and either my search criteria is bunk (or I don't know what to search for specifically) or there aren't any posting of this kind available. Any ideas to support this or as why this would not work?
    hvac1000's Avatar
    hvac1000 Posts: 14,540, Reputation: 435
    Heating & Air Conditioning Expert
     
    #2

    Jan 15, 2009, 11:51 AM
    Keep trying on Google since that is the best source for the various information you are looking for. Ground source heat pumps and water source heat pump information is available from Google.
    vwdieseljunkie's Avatar
    vwdieseljunkie Posts: 107, Reputation: 13
    Junior Member
     
    #3

    Jan 15, 2009, 12:15 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by hvac1000 View Post
    Keep trying on Google since that is the best source for the various information you are looking for. Ground source heat pumps and water source heat pump information is available from Google.
    AHAH! Found it! Searched for "ground source heat" and got Geothermal heat pump! Thanks, I just needed to improve my search criteria.

    Every so often, I have these 'neat' ideas, and immediately after opening my mouth I learn that it's absolutely nothing new, been around for years, perfectly common place. I got to get out more, lol.
    dac122's Avatar
    dac122 Posts: 463, Reputation: 17
    Full Member
     
    #4

    Jan 15, 2009, 12:50 PM

    Also search on Geothermal Heat Pump

Not your question? Ask your question View similar questions

 

Question Tools Search this Question
Search this Question:

Advanced Search

Add your answer here.


Check out some similar questions!

Temperature, Heat, and the Particle Theory Quiz [ 4 Answers ]

Hi guy I need to ask some questions... (t is true and f for false):confused: 1.All matter is made of particles? T F 2.The particles of matter are in motion? T F 3.Cooling speeds up the motion of th particles? T F 4.In a gas, particles all move in the same direction? T F 5.The...

Carrier Hvac heat pump with aux/em heat- NO AUX HEAT [ 1 Answers ]

I have tried to install Honeywell 7500d thermostat. I get heat pump heat but no emergency heat although the termostate is calling for it. The installation manual says to see authorized agent if I have a dual 0/b on existing thermostat and another wire is attached to common. As of now, I have ...

NO HEAT! Janitrol heat pump and AC system. Changing to Lux Thermostat. Wiring issue. [ 11 Answers ]

I have a Janitrol A/C and heat pump system. I replaced the thermostat with a Lux T9000LC The A/C works fine, but the heater does not. I have it wired as follows: G - Green Y - Yellow W - White RH - Pink B -

Ductless A/C with Heat Pump - Heat pump does not come on [ 1 Answers ]

Hi The A/C works great but in the morning when its cool outside and I switch on the Heat the indoor unit makes a clicking sound and the fan stays off - after about 8 minutes I switch to A/C I get a rush of ice cold air along with some mist. Seems like when I switch to heat the indoor unit...


View more questions Search