Before you dismiss geothermal, consider going hybrid

Before you dismiss geothermal, consider going hybrid

New study identifies cost effectiveness of hybrid ground-source heat pumps

Install a hybrid geothermal heat pump system and reduce the cost of implementing geothermal heating and cooling on your building project. A hybrid system reduces the peak capacity of your ground loop, letting you install a smaller, less expensive ground heat exchanger.

The Energy Center of Wisconsin with assistance from the University of Wisconsin Solar Energy Laboratory collected a year of operating data on three working hybrid system installations to analyze the economic and environmental impact of the hybrid approach and to compare it to other HVAC system designs. This data was used to investigate what contributes to an effective hybrid design and to validate energy models of these systems.

The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Alliant Energy, and Madison Gas and Electric. As a result of this project the Energy Center developed documents and tools for HVAC system designers to use, including a freeware version of their model, to assess the benefits of applying the geothermal hybrid approach on building projects. Download the final report at www.ecw.org/hybrid.

Free software models hybrid geothermal systems

An easy-to-use, but sophisticated method of analyzing various hybrid geothermal configurations is one piece that has been missing from the world of geothermal analysis tools. This new tool fills a gap for engineers and designers by modeling hybrid systems that can lower the up-front costs of geothermal. Learn more and download tool: http://www.ecw.org/project.php?workid=1&resultid=465



FACT SHEET

Hybrid ground-source heat pumps: saving energy and cost

http://www.ecw.org/ecwresults/HyGSHPfactsheet.pdf



FINAL REPORT

Hybrid ground-source heat pump installations: experiences, improvements and tools

http://www.ecw.org/ecwresults/262-1.pdf



FREE WEBINAR

Hybrid geothermal systems: less is more

Presented by Scott Hackel, P.E., LEED AP, Senior Project Manager, Energy Center of Wisconsin

September 29, 2011

www.ecw.org/hybrid


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