Ground source heating cuts costs for car repair shop

Ground source heating cuts costs for car repair shop

Ground source heating is a reliable way to heat large premises. Another advantage is that it is also possible to achieve so-called free cooling in different areas of the premises. 

Valdemarsvik is home to Allvärmeteknik, one of CTC's major partners. Each year, Allvärmeteknik installs around 200 heat pumps. One of its corporate customers is Bilam, a full-service facility for cars and car owners.

Bilam's operations include a workshop, shop, spare parts, car wash, petrol station and rentals.
Peter Törnborg, workshop manager, explains how he came to choose ground source heating:

"We invested heavily in our new facility. A state-of-the-art workshop spanning almost 500 square metres together with offices, a shop and changing rooms. A total of 1200 square metres. The heating and hot water solution constituted an important part of the investment calculation. The challenge was all the large areas, high ceilings, doors and a mix of offices, workshops and changing rooms. There was also a high demand for hot water for short periods."

A well thought-out and efficient solution was required.
"The basis of the entire facility is ground source heating. District heating is available, but it was quickly rejected. At the time of planning, the CTC EcoZenith pump had just been launched. It provided a perfect all-in-one solution for control and hot water," explains Jonny Carlsson, service manager at Allvärmeteknik.

"Free cooling is a smart way to utilise the free energy available in a ground source heating system."

Jonny Carlsson

Get free cooling along with ground source heating

Bilam also uses four fan convectors to obtain free cooling. This only makes the heat pump more efficient.

"Free cooling is a smart way to utilise the free energy available in a ground source heating system. A major advantage of free cooling connected to a ground source heat pump is that the borehole is recharged with energy. When the heat pump needs to produce domestic hot water, the temperature of the incoming brine is a few degrees warmer than it would otherwise be," says Johnny Carlsson.

A rule of thumb is that a borehole providing 5 kW of heat output can be loaded with around 3.3 kW of cooling. Each degree warmer the brine is gives the heat pump about 3 percent better efficiency.
The facility has withstood cold winters without problems and it is rarely necessary to use the electric heater.
"When we had a sauna evening with 12 people showering, we had no problems with hot water either," concludes Bilam owner Peter Törnborg.

Guide to ground source heating

Published: 2017-02-16