Geothermal\Condensing boiler hybrid systems

Mr. Blonde

I have seen posts mentioning these in the past and would like to know what it is exactly and how they are tied together. Is the boiler used to temper the ground water when it goes below a certain temp or is the boiler used as second stage?

Mike T., Swampeast MO

.

What a great question!

I believe the standard answer is "second stage".

Tempering the ground water has a multitude of SERIOUS problems. The problems could be overcome, but cost-benefit would take a TERRIBLE hit.

GMcD

Boiler is \"second stage heat\"

Common application in cold climates where the geo-exchnage system doesn't have the capacity to provide a balanced heating/cooling load with the soil conductivity. Geo provides as much heat as possible without freezing the ground and causing loss of geo-exchange capacity over time with poor soil conductivity, and the boiler provides supplemental heat into the building system when the geo can't.

Wethead7

Boiler-tower

Sometimes in larger buildings with no or little access to geocontact. A boilet is used to heat the water to approx. 60 degrees. A cooling tower is used to cool the water in the cooling cycle.

Note these systems tend to reject heat a low outdoor temps. Sometimes as cool as near freezing. These places have very low
heating bills. I have worked on these in the past. These systems are very simple with extremely complex controls.

Mike