Geothermal

In essence geothermal energy is heat from the earth which is caused by the sun’s year round constant heating of the earth to 45 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit.  Geothermal energy is a natural and renewable resource which can be harnessed through geothermal heating and cooling systems to cool and heat a home in the summer and winter months.

The basic principles of ground water geothermal wells are quite simple.  The well water maintains a constant temperature all year round of 50 degrees Fahrenheit several miles below the ground’s surface.  The well pump and piping in the well absorbs and transfers the water and heat of said water to the geothermal heat pump inside the building.  Once there the geothermal heat pump concentrates and transfers the heat from the water to the buildings forced air ducts or radiant piping.  In the summer forced air systems extract the heat from the air inside the home leaving the air cooler.

There are two different types of geothermal wells that Chevalier Drilling Co., Inc. installs and they are as follows: Standing Colum and Closed-Loop.  Our certified drillers and pumping installers install both residential and commercial geothermal constructs.

A standing column geothermal well is a traditionally constructed – drilled water well with a submersible pumping system.  Standing column geothermal wells provide drinking water to the house as well as water to the geothermal heat exchanger.  Often times the submersible pumping system is a constant pressure system delivering a nice steady stream of water to the household fixtures.  Standing column wells follow the constructs of a standard water supply well with only a slight deviation.  Instead of the water entering the house going from the pressure tank to the household fixtures the water actually splits off.  The water splits off with one set of pipes distributing water to the household plumbing and the other distributing water to the heat pump where it then transfers the heat from the water and then the water is distributed back into the well.  In heat mode the heat pump extracts heat energy from the water which reduces the waters temperature before returning it back to the well.  The water that is distributed to the plumbing fixtures does not return to the well (it flows one way only).  Standing column wells are less expensive and have a greater energy efficiency than closed-loop wells systems.

A standing column geothermal well is a traditionally constructed – drilled water well with a submersible pumping system.  Standing column geothermal wells provide drinking water to the house as well as water to the geothermal heat exchanger.  Often times the submersible pumping system is a constant pressure system delivering a nice steady stream of water to the household fixtures.  Standing column wells follow the constructs of a standard water supply well with only a slight deviation.  Instead of the water entering the house going from the pressure tank to the household fixtures the water actually splits off.  The water splits off with one set of pipes distributing water to the household plumbing and the other distributing water to the heat pump where it then transfers the heat from the water and then the water is distributed back into the well.  In heat mode the heat pump extracts heat energy from the water which reduces the waters temperature before returning it back to the well.  The water that is distributed to the plumbing fixtures does not return to the well (it flows one way only).  Standing column wells are less expensive and have a greater energy efficiency than closed-loop wells systems.

A closed loop geothermal well is a drilled borehole (well) with two parallel high-density polyethylene pipes (HDPE) grouted the full length of the well.  There are typically two or more closed loop wells piped together.  A water-based glycol solution is pumped through the closed-loops, to the heat pump which then extracts heat energy from the fluid.  The temperature of the water, just as in the open loop system, is decreased.  The fluid is then returned to the HDPE pipes where that heat that is in the ground has transferred through the grout and warms the fluid back up naturally.  Unlike standing column geothermal wells only deal with the heating aspect and not the domestic drinking water, therefore they are not dependent upon striking water at all.