Geothermal Housing

D. Sree Ramya and E. Harika 1st Year B.Tech Civil Engineering Varadhareddy College of Engineering, Hasanparthy, Warangal

ABSTRACT
The need of alternate source of energy is increasing day by as renewable energy sources are depleting. There may not be too far we have to depend on only solar and nuclear energy. Thus providing alternate energy sources is important. One such attempt towards this is our project Geo thermal Housing. The basic principle of geothermal housing is constant temperature below 20 feet of earths surface. Geothermal technology provides readily available thermal (temperature-based) energy from beneath the earths surface to help maintain a constant minimum and maximum temperature during all seasons. This makes the dependency on electricity less and most of the heating and cooling appliances can be maintained without power supply. The initial cost of the housing is more but through break even analysis we can say that this is more economic than others. Here we study the basic principle in making a geothermal house, its maintenance and materials used for the process. Then we compare with present day technology and analyze their benefits and limitations. After detailed explanation it is proved that geothermal housing not only provides an economic advantage and is also eco friendly in operation. Thus we obtain safe luxuries at low cost and do our bit for our environment.

INTRODUCTION
Use the constant temperature of the earth for heating and cooling with money-saving geothermal technology Below the frost line - usually about six feet deep the earth is a constant temperature of about 50 degrees Fahrenheit all year long. During the winter, the system absorbs heat from the ground and uses it to warm the air in your home. In the warmer summer months, the process is reversed, taking heat from your home and transferring it back into the ground.

PROCESS
Basically, you stick a plastic tube into the ground and pump a solution of water and glycol through the tube. The solution is then pumped into a heat pump which will either remove heat from the solution (heating cycle) or add heat to the solution (cooling cycle). The re-chilled fluid is sent back through the ground thus continuing the cycle. The heat extracted and that generated by the heat pump appliance as a byproduct is used to heat the house. In the summer, the heat pump returns the solution to the ground in a warmer state and is consequently cooled by the earth. In the winter, the heat pump returns the solution to the ground in a cooler state and is consequently warmed by the earth. So its a bit countered intuitive, but in a heating cycle, a heat pump can actually pull heat out of a 55 degree solution and return the solution to the ground at 35 degrees. That 20 degree differential is borrowed out of the ground and put into the building. And the exact opposite occurs during the cooling cycle.

As seen in the two figures the operating process and the installation processes are shown. Now there is a graph showing the energy usage with 2004 2007 2008 normal system GTH installed

Because they are exceedingly efficient at what they do, Modern heating systems that burn a fuel hover around 95% efficiency, but a heat pump requires only pumps and a compressor which require far less electricity than an electric heat and can reach efficiencies of up to 400%. With gas and oil prices high the investment in a geothermal system can really pay off. Plus the ground components are very simple and typically warranted to between 25 and 50 years, and likely to last much longer so once the investment is paid off the system should run with only regular maintenance for a long time. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized geothermal systems as the most environmentally friendly, cost-effective and energy efficient heating and cooling technology available. So you can make a significant contribution to a cleaner environment while saving up to 70% on your homes energy bills.

CONCLUSION
Even though heat pumps and geothermal space conditioning has been around for a while, it's still considered very much a new market and as such, there aren't nearly enough contractors and engineers. Thus by installing a Geothermal Housing system or generally called as Geothermal Heat Pump there are following cost Low cost Eco friendly Easy Maintenance Less taxes Alternate source of energy

REFERENCES

http://www.geothermalheaters.com http://howdoesaheatpumpwork.net/what-isgeothermal-heat-pumps-1919/

http://www.premierindoor.com/ http://www.alliantenergy.com/SaveEnergyAndMoney/ RenewableEnergy/GeotheRmal/030455

http://winterstreetarchitects.files.wordpress.com/ http://citywideheatingandair.com/services/heating.