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Vertical Closed Loops are constituted by drilling vertically into the earth and running two HDPE plastic pipes in parallel with a U-bend at the bottom into the holes. These holes should not be closer then 10 ft. and in Canada a minimum of 180 feet of Bore Hole per ton of Heat Pump should be drilled. Once the pipes are installed, a special mixture of bentonite grout is pumped down the hole to insure good Heat Transfer from the surrounding material.
Vertical loops also contain a Water & Ethanol and when sized and properly installed perform very similar to Horizontal closed loops. Vertical loops are usually more expensive to install and are implemented when there is a space restriction.
Eg. A 3000 sq. ft. home well insulated would need a 5 Ton Heat Pump. Five holes 180 ft. deep or three holes 300 ft. deep, (900 ft.), of drilling, and 1800 ft. of plastic pipe is needed. Each set of pipes is connected in a trench 5 ft. deep to a Header with one supply and return line to the Heat Pump.
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Lake Loops or Pond Loops are great. The temperature of the water in the Winter is around 36 F. Water transfers its energy more efficiently then in an earth loop, therefore less pipe is needed to complete a Lake Loop.Lake loops should have a minimum of 300 ft. of Plastic Pipe per Ton. Lake Loops are generally easy to install and are cheaper then Horizontal ground loops.
Three Plastic Pipes are bound together with Tie Straps and weighted down with Cement weights. The pipes are then fed into the lake to form initially a giant C shape except the ends points of C shape are brought together to be Socket Fused to Header Pipes. The Plastic pipes may form a variety curves before they are sunk.
The water depth must be a minimum of 6 ft. deep. The same antifreeze solution of Water & 25% Ethanol is pumped into the loop to absorb the Heat Energy of the Lake or Pond.
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Open Loop Systems tie into the water well at the pressure tank in your home.The water is pumped through the Heat Pump where the energy is removed and discharged into a Leeching bed, return well, lake, river or stream.
Polar Bear Heat Pumps require only a 1 1/2 gpm US or 1 1/4 Canadian gpm. per Ton of Heat Pump.
Eg.
A 3 Ton unit sufficient for most 1600 sq. ft. homes needs 4 gpm. imp.
A 4 Ton unit sufficient for most 2000 sq. ft. homes needs 5 gpm. imp.
A 5 Ton unit sufficient for most 3000 sq. ft. homes needs 6 1/2 gpm imp
The water enters the Heat Pump at roughly 46 F. and exits in and around 35 F.
Increasing the water flow the exiting water temperature can be increased.
Most water wells easily meet the flow requirements of a Heat Pump, but flow rate and capacity must be checked to insure a reliable water supply.
Open Loop Systems provide the warmest entering water temperatures to the Heat Pump therefore affording the greatest performance in terms of BTU output and efficiency
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