Earth thermal storage for enhanced performance of air-to-air heat pumps

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:5111875

Ternes, M P

The heat that exists naturally in the earth under a house with a crawl space may be used in the winter months to preheat the source air of an air-to-air heat pump and, thereby, bring about improvements in the efficiency of the heat pump. The source air is warmed by drawing it through the crawl space where it gains heat from the warmer earth. This allows the heat pump to operate in a climate more favorable than ambient. In the past winter, a comprehensive, comparative test of the concept was begun. This test involves three identical unoccupied houses in the Knoxville area, two of which have been configured to use the crawl space but in a different manner for each. The third house has a standard heat pump installation and serves as the control for the experiment. The houses were highly instrumented in order to determine the net benefit of the concept. Results from the experiment for the past winter showed that dramatic improvements in the heat pump performance were obtained during mid-winter conditions. However, anomalies which were encountered during this testing period have precluded definitive conclusions. Additional work is being performed so that indisputable recommendations can be made.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 5111875
• Report Number(s): CONF-820814-28; ON: DE82020773
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320100* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Buildings
AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMPS
BUILDINGS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY STORAGE
FEDERAL REGION IV
HEAT PUMPS
HEAT STORAGE
HEATING LOAD
HOUSES
NORTH AMERICA
PERFORMANCE TESTING
POWER DEMAND
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
SENSIBLE HEAT STORAGE
SOILS
STORAGE
TENNESSEE
TESTING
USA