Making ground-source heat pumps more accessible

A new ground-source geothermal system can be installed faster and cheaper than the alternatives

Spotted: According to the International Energy Agency, the majority of the world’s current demand for space and water heating could be met by heat pumps, with the technology having the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 500 million tonnes in 2030.

Scaling up heat pump deployment is therefore crucial for decarbonising the built environment.

Electrical systems that use mechanical energy to transfer heat from a hotter to a colder area, heat pumps come in several forms. In the US – as in most countries – ‘air-source’ systems are most common. These transfer heat from or to the outdoor air. Geothermal – or ‘ground-source’ – systems, on the other hand, transfer heat between a building and the ground. The latter approach offers several advantages, and US startup Dandelion Energy is working to enable more homes to benefit from them.

Under Dandelion’s system, buried U-shaped pipes form a ‘ground loop’ that circulates a heat transfer fluid. This fluid draws heat from the surrounding earth and transfers it to the home during winter, while dispersing heat from the home into the ground during summer. This two-way heating and cooling works because the ground stays at a relatively consistent temperature throughout the year. The ground loop is connected to a heat pump unit, which is typically installed in the home’s basement in the same place as a traditional furnace. Ductwork, which many US houses already have installed, then moves the heated or cooled air around the home. 

Dandelion highlights that its heat pumps can deliver homeowners significant savings compared to traditional systems. Using a typical 2,500 square foot oil-powered home in Cortlandt – a suburban town in New York state – as an example, the company estimates that switching to a Dandelion geothermal system would reduce the homeowner’s annual heating and cooling costs by 53 per cent. The startup also highlights that its technology results not only in a reduction in carbon emissions of around 64 per cent compared to the ‘cleanest’ gas-based fossil fuel systems – it also offers a roughly 48 per cent reduction compared to air-source heat pumps.

So why don’t more homes opt to heat their home with geothermal power? Traditionally, the two main challenges have been up-front cost and the difficulty of installation. On the finance side, Dandelion offers 0 per cent down financing options, and its in-house team works with regulators to maximise incentives. On the technology side, the startup has developed a proprietary heat pump with a novel approach to heat exchange. It has also put together a suite of equipment that makes the most of breakthroughs in drilling technology. Using a vertical ground loop that requires only a small number of holes, meanwhile, makes it possible to install Dandelion’s system in homes with limited yard space.

Through a combination of these features, Dandelion is hoping to accelerate the adoption of cleaner heating and cooling in the markets it serves.  

Written By: Matt Hempstead

We first wrote about Dandelion Energy in November 2022.