Quick Question on how Ground Loop is calculated by eQuest

2 posts / 0 new
Last post

Hi all,

I just have a question about how sizing the Groundloop in Equest works.

Question 1:
How does eQuest Size the ground loop (Ground-Source Heat pump for example). Does the user have to specify "the length of the ground loop" or is there an option to auto-size to meet all of the buildings heating/cooling demands.

Question 2:
Does eQuest consider "heat produced by the heat-pump for the ground loop and other heating and cooling equipment" as part of the "Total cooling/Heating Demands" in the output?

Thankyou very much

meneedhelp's picture
Offline
Joined: 2012-06-03
Reputation: 0

Hi Jay,

eQUEST does not autosize ground loops - the user must enter the correct loop properties. In Wizard mode, eQUEST creates a vertical well field with 10' depth by default. This generates an error if the user does not manually enter a different value.

For question 2, it might help if we knew where the quoted descriptions came from. Heat pump energy will generally show up as Space Heating or Space Cooling in the BEPS/BEPU reports. The exceptions that come to mind are crankcase heater energy (assigned by default to air-cooled condensers) which is included in "PUMPS & AUX" and supplemental heating which, not surprisingly, is included in "HT PUMP SUPPLEM". Energy from pumps assigned to the ground loop and heat pump loop appears in "PUMPS & AUX".

Regards,
Bill

William Bishop, PE, BEMP, BEAP, LEED AP 

Bill Bishop's picture
Offline
Joined: 2012-02-25
Reputation: 7