The upper few metres of the soil absorb heat in spring and summer and store it for several months, after which it is available in autumn and winter. Geothermal energy is present everywhere, and new energy comes into being every year.
In September, the soil at a depth of 1.5 metres has a temperature of 12 to 15 degrees. This heat can be used to heat buildings in autumn and winter. Collectors – also known as “absorbers” - are used to harvest the heat. Buried in the ground, the collectors gradually extract the heat from the soil and transfer it to the brine. This in turn transports the energy to the heat pump, where the temperature required by the heating system is generated.
The collectors are combined to form several strands with ten modules each and stand upright in the ground at a depth of 1.50 m. They are connected with the heat pump in the building via pipes and distribution shafts.
Yes, you can. If suitable heat pumps are used, it is no problem to achieve the high heating water temperatures old buildings usually require.
Yes, it can. As a garden, for instance: roots can reach down to a depth of up to 80 cm. Paths or parking spaces can also be created, provided that the covering is permeable to rainwater and the configuration of the system takes the specific overbuilding into account.
The collectors in the ground cannot be seen or heard. Geothermal heat pumps do not emit any noise, even on the outside. This contrasts with air-to-air heat pumps, whose noise under full load can lead to trouble with the neighbours.
Yes, they do. A pump operated with green electricity heats water carbon-neutrally. This protects the climate and makes us independent of energy deliveries from other countries.
Yes, they do. The surface of the collectors is more than one metre long and 35 cm high and has a special corrugated design. The brine flows through this type of collector with great intensity and extracts much more energy from the ground per square metre of land than simple plastic pipes do. Also, independent product tests confirm a service life of at least 100 years. The plastic can be recycled and reused completely afterwards.
As the collectors extract a particularly large amount of heat from the ground, the collector field does not need to cover a large area. One third of the heated area of the building is usually sufficient. In other words, a geothermal heat pump produces three to four additional kWh of heat per kW of electricity. This corresponds with an annual coefficient of power (COP) of between 4 and more than 5. The value is much lower for an air-to-air heat pump. This saves electricity and reduces the carbon footprint.
An excavator digs ditches or trenches with a depth of 1.5 meters. Specialist companies combine the collectors to form strands using a plastic welding unit. They then place them in the trenches and connect them to the heat pump via a distribution system. When systems are installed according to the manual, there is a ten-year guarantee for all system elements installed in the ground.
Yes, it can. In conjunction with a surface heating system in floor, wall or ceiling, it is possible to transfer surplus summer heat to the ground. This keeps things cool and comfortable even at high summer temperatures.
To determine the size of a GeoCollect system, a configurator is available on our German-language homepage (unfortunately only valid for Germany). Fully assembled, a system usually costs between 1,000 and 1,400 euros per GeoCollect line. Added to this are the costs for earthworks and the heat pump system. The higher electricity prices rise, the more a GeoCollect system pays off financially.