Water Source Heat Pumps

Water source heat pumps operate on much the same principles as a ground source heat pump except that the heat store used to provide low level heat energy to the is a body of water such as a lake or river. Chilled liquid is pumped through a loop of polyethylene piping which is simply fixed or deposited into the lake or river. This is ideal where a building is adjacent to a private lake. Care needs to be taken in waters which are not privately owned especially if they are navigable or used by anglers. No homeowner would want his heating system disabled by a boats anchor! Care needs to be taken in rivers especially rivers prone to severe flooding as increased flows can exert severe pressure on the loop and there is always a danger that heavy debris floating down the river could catch on the loop.

Water is most dense at 4 degrees centigrade and therefore the bottom layers of water in most lakes tends to be at least 4 degrees centigrade even in winter or above. A big advantrage of using a water source heat pump is that the costs of excavating long trenches can be avoided.

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