Is anyone in the Geothermal Heat Pump business?

Gentry is.

 

We have installed maybe 10 or so geothermal systems for schools in Tn. and Kentucky. They cost more but the extra us made up in 3 years or so and then it's money in the bank. It's just a big water loop with heat pumps.

 

Great summary - works like a fridge
http://www.geoexchange.org/about/how.htm

 

I am familiar with heat pumps. They are only efficient in mild climates. The power needed to run one increases as the temperature difference between your hot and cold reservoir increases. This means that they are better suited to climates like, say, the south where it doesnt get very cold in the winter than they are in climates like the northeast. If you want more of an explanation I could dust off my thermodynamics textbook.

 

Sorry, I didnt see you are from Canada. That pretty much means you dont want one.

 

Unless your "reference" temperature is much warmer (heating) or colder (cooling) than room temp, you'll still need a compression/expansion cycle for the heat exchange. You want to make sure your thermal "reservoir" can absorb or source a lot of heat. That means volume flow through the ground loop.

I did some research on this topic back in Massachusetts.

In milder climates, installers tend to lay out the ground loop horizontally, a few inches deep. You don't want that for Canada. The better, but more expensive option is to run the ground loop vertically -- which means drilling ... deep drilling. Like an oil rig.

Your ground loop should go down enough to get to relatively constant temperatures, regardless of season. With Canada's seasons, you'll want to go really really deep.

Like to Australia.

But to make a geothermal pump work for Canada, you'll probably need to get well below the water table. Check for what kind of permits and approvals Kanukistan requires for that.