Modeling and performance analysis of a house heating system with a ground coupled heat pump

This study deals with modeling and performance analysis of a house heating system with ground coupled heat pump. The heating system consists of an underground thermal energy storage (TES) tank, a heat pump and a house. An analytical model is presented for finding the thermal performance of the heating system. The model developed is based on formulations for the transient heat transfer problem outside the TES tank, for the energy needs of the heat pump and for the house. The solution of the problem formulation is obtained using a similarity transformation technique. Expressions for energy consumption of the heat pump and house are derived as a function of inside design air, ambient air and TES temperatures. An interactive computer program based on the analytical model is prepared for finding hourly variation of water temperature in the TES tank, coefficient of performance (COP) of heat pump and timespan required to attain an annually periodic operating condition. Results indicate that 5 to 7 years will be a sufficient timespan required for the system to attain an annually periodic operating condition.