Methinks the Water-to-Air "Geothermal" heat pumps using stored water (or hybridized geothermal/water storage) would be cheaper to operate, with a lower heat storage installation cost too. ???
" You already have a heat pump in your home - your refrigerator. If you put your hand behind it, you'll feel the heat that's being pumped from the inside.
It's the same principle that a geothermal heat pump uses to warm your home. Instead of producing heat like a conventional furnace, a geothermal heat pump moves heat from one place to another - from the ground into your home."
These worked very nicely at a new 24 bed hospital in the late 1970s.
The summer cooling water (60 to 90 F) was piped to the large area and room heat pumps was circulated through a
cooling tower. In the heating mode the circulating water (60 to 90 F) was passed through
a heat exchanger and heated by steam from a large boiler.
The heat pump units had "Freeze-Stats" that shut them down if the circulating water temp fell below 50 F.
Frederick
