Design, development, and validation of a low-cost measurement system for residential ground source heat pump systems

Abstract

There is still relatively little data available to properly analyze the performance of Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) systems in residential applications. While commercial-grade instrumentation is available, it is often expensive to deploy in residential systems. As a result, there continues to be a need for low-cost, properly installed sensor systems in residential GSHP systems.

To collect meaningful performance data from any heating and cooling system, accurate measurements of heat transfer and electrical power must be made. Specifically, high-accuracy temperature sensors, flow sensors, and power transducers must be properly calibrated and installed, with appropriate data acquisition software, in order to calculate the Coefficient of Performance ("COP") of any system. To support wider collection of meaningful performance data for residential applications, a low-cost energy meter & data acquisition system has been developed and its accuracy verified.

This paper describes the design, fabrication, and validation of the above mentioned low-cost measurement system, and the associated validation test loop constructed to verify its accuracy. Preliminary field measurements, detailed parts list, associated Python programs, and suggestions for future modifications are included as well.