Sunday, November 24, 2013

Ground sourced heat pump – Experiencing 7 years of operation

In this post I will share most useful experiences related to the 7 years of operation of my ground sourced heat pump. Most wanted facts about heat pump operations:
  • Costs: In first years operating costs (heating area 150m2, good insulation, county EU Slovenia) were from 250€ to 350€ for one winter season.
  • Operation time: The heat pump was in operation 3,5 hours on average per day.
  • Geothermal collector efficiency: At the beginning of the winter season the water from the geothermal collector was about 10,5 degrees Celsius.  At the end of the winter season the water from the geothermal collector was about 7 degrees Celsius.

The pump was running very smoothly without any problems ... until. Two years ago I noticed that my heat pump runs more and more hours per day. At the end it was running almost 5 hours on average. From 3,5 hours to 5 hours  ... what happened?! The winters were comparable in last years, the settings of the heat pump were the same, the geothermal collector was working O.K. So? I called the maintenance team of the producer of the heat pump. They showed up very quickly in few days. We found out an oil stain inside the heat pump below the compresor and we found out that cooling gas level is too low. After checking and screwing some pipes we added the cooling gas to the correct level. We started the machine, made some tests and ... it was running like new and it still do. The cost for the maintenance was 70€ and it was worth paying this money, because the pump will again run more efficient this winter. Having any additional questions ... just post a comment and I will try to answer asap.

Thank you all for sharing useful experiences and issues for geothermal heat pumps

Hi All. I was reading those days your posts and comments on the last post of my blog. I found them very useful. I didn't know that the providers of heating services are so well organized and experienced. I believe the links provided are useful and also some others readers of this blog could benefit. Here I'm listing your links again. Meanwhile I would like to inform you that I'm preparing a new post where I will introduce my already 7 years of experience with operating a ground sourced heat pump.

Links I found them useful:

Thank you again.