Components of Geothermal System - Captors, New Zealand

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Captors consist of piping buried either in the ground or in water to extract energy and transfer it. The pipes will be either, copper with a refrigerant or High Density Poly Ethylene, (HDPE), with a glycol/water mix. Next Energy will recommend the most appropriate type of Captors dependent on your circumstances and site.

	Horizontal Captors The most typical Captor, these are installed to a shallow depth of between 50 and 60 cm, this is far shallower than competitor products and reduces the time and cost of earthworks. To further reduce costs this can be done when the earthworks are dug for your new home. The area required for the captor field will depend on your individual system and heating needs but as a guide for a heated floor area of 200m² you would require a captor area of approx 300m². Captors need to be buried in the garden as the ground needs to be replenished with energy from sun and rain; typically they are placed under lawn areas as this offers the best solution.
	Vertical Captor Less typical, this solution is for smaller sites when ground area is limited and involves boring a Geothermal probe between 70 and 100 m below the ground.
	Water Captors This solution can be used if a bore hole exists on the site. However, this approach could be subject to resource consent which can significantly add to overall costs.

Horizontal Captors
The most typical Captor, these are installed to a shallow depth of between 50 and 60 cm, this is far shallower than competitor products and reduces the time and cost of earthworks. To further reduce costs this can be done when the earthworks are dug for your new home. The area required for the captor field will depend on your individual system and heating needs but as a guide for a heated floor area of 200m² you would require a captor area of approx 300m². Captors need to be buried in the garden as the ground needs to be replenished with energy from sun and rain; typically they are placed under lawn areas as this offers the best solution.

Vertical Captor
Less typical, this solution is for smaller sites when ground area is limited and involves boring a Geothermal probe between 70 and 100 m below the ground.

Water Captors
This solution can be used if a bore hole exists on the site. However, this approach could be subject to resource consent which can significantly add to overall costs.

Other options are available to extract energy from ponds and lakes. Contact Next Energy for more details.

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