I dont really understand what the difference is between closed loop heat pumps and fan coiled terminals. They sound extremely similar to me.
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Hi @alexfinolr ,
Great question! I found a lot of these topics super tricky when I was studying because a lot of times my projects just have a couple RTU’s and individual PTACs.
The main difference between a fan coil and heat pump is that fan coils are simply blowing air across a coil to heat or cool a room. Heat pumps use the refrigeration cycle to cool or heat air, which is then blown by a fan throughout the ducts. A direct loop heat pump utilizes the ground as a more effective heat exchanger than air.
In the case of closed loop geothermal heat pumps, piping is ran in a continuous loop underground from and back to the heat pump.
Check out this handy website from energy.gov on heat pumps:
Geothermal Heat Pumps | Department of Energy
And I re-read through the Wikipedia articles on heat pumps and fan coils to help make sure I was explaining properly:
Of course, Black Spectacles PPD “OBJECTIVE 3.1: DETERMINE MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, AND PLUMBING SYSTEMS” lectures are a huge help for understanding systems better.
Hope this helps!
-Darion
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