Geothermal/mini split combination

CARL SEVILLE | Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on July 30, 2009 01:46am

Has anyone installed mini split heat units tied into a geothermal heat pump system?

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Martin Holladay | Jul 30, 2009 02:32pm | #1
Carl,
As I understand it, a mini-split is an air-source heat pump. The outdoor unit is connected by insulated copper tubing containing refrigerant to an indoor unit (or several indoor units). Each indoor unit is basically a fan-coil unit — in essence, the same as a hydronic kickspace heater, although ciruclating a different fluid.

What part of this equipment do you want to tie in to a ground-source heat pump — just the indoor unit, I guess? In other words, you want to couple a small fan-coil unit designed to circulate refrigerant with a ground-source heat pump, instead of connecting the GSHP to a whole-house air handler?
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CARL SEVILLE | Jul 30, 2009 02:37pm | #2
You got it. I have heard some rumors about this type of system and want to see if I can make it work in my new house.

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