Natural History. Stewardship. Sustainability.
Energy Systems at Hartley Nature Center
Geothermal Heat Pump
The earth beneath us is a giant heat sink, absorbing and storing energy from the sun all summer long. That latent heat along with heat generated by the earth's core is then very slowly released throughout the winter months. As a result, the temperature of the soil ten feet below the surface stays at a fairly constant 50 degrees all year long. That heat can be extracted and used to help heat a building. Here is how we do it.
An anti-freeze type fluid flowing through one mile of coiled plastic tubing buried eight to ten feet under our butterfly garden in front of the building collects that heat and transports it inside. The heat pump compresses the liquid to extract the heat and then a heat exchanger transfers it to a fluid flowing through more plastic coils set into our concrete floors. Our system utlizes an Econar Energy Systems Geosource 2000 heat pump. The end result? Toasty warm floors and much lower heating costs.
Hartley Nature Center, 3001 Woodland Ave. Duluth, MN 55803 location map
Phone:
218-724-6735 email: info@hartleynature.org
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