Impact of weather variation on ground-source heat pump design

This article presents an investigation on the impact of year-to-year weather variability on the optimal design of a system for heating and cooling a building using a ground-source heat pump. The designs of a boiler-ground-source heat pump hybrid and a cooling tower-ground-source heat pump hybrid were optimized using a typical meteorological year (TMY2) weather file and also using 15 years of actual weather data. The results indicate that a design based on a TMY2 weather file may be undersized for a severe weather year; this is particularly true if the severe weather year is encountered during the first year of system operation. A cooling tower-ground-source heat pump hybrid model was developed, which includes the use of a backup boiler placed on the building side (rather than the loop side) of the system. It was found that the use of a boiler backup mitigated much of the negative impact of a severe weather year. The boiler supplied the heating during periods of particularly severe weather so that the ground loop length could be maintained at a reasonable value.