Geothermal System Being Installed at Chester Homeless Shelter
Media – Edward T. Coleman, Chief Executive Officer, announced that the Community Action Agency of Delaware County, Inc. (CAADC) is installing a geothermal HVAC system at its Wesley House Homeless Shelter.
Geothermal technology relies primarily on the Earth’s natural thermal energy, a renewable resource, to heat or cool a house or multi-family dwelling.
The Wesley House Homeless Shelter will be just one of a few shelters in the country using a geothermal system and the first in Pennsylvania. The Wesley House Homeless Shelter, located at 701 Madison Street in Chester, serves homeless families and single women from Delaware County.
John P. DiEnna, Jr., CAADC Board Member and Executive Director of the Geothermal National and International initiative, stated “We are installing a geothermal heat pump system, which uses the Earth’s thermal properties, in conjunction with electricity, to provide heating and cooling at the Wesley House. Geothermal heat pumps do not need the sun to shine or the wind to blow; it basically works 24/7, 365 days a year. It will lower the utility bills for the shelter by up to 40% using the energy CAADC already owns, the energy in its backyard.”
The geothermal system, which is expected to be completed in September, will heat and cool the shelter at significant savings up to 40% less than traditional systems. Ten (10) wells are being dug four hundred (400) feet into the ground. The wells will reach an area that is at fifty-five (55) degrees. Other benefits of this use of green energy include being environmentally safer, less reliance on fossil fuels, higher operating efficiency, less maintenance and a constant supply of hot water (for showers, cooking, laundry, etc.).
Funding for this project came from an Emergency Shelter Grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED).
The Community Action Agency of Delaware County, Inc. has been Delaware County’s designated anti-poverty agency since 1979. The non-profit agency provides a wide range of services aimed at encouraging self-sufficiency for low-income individuals. The Agency’s website is www.caadc.org.
My experience with commerical heat pumps is that they do not provide enough heat for our cold winters which is why they're not too popular in the northeast.
ReplyDeleteDoes Wesley House have auxilary heating or have heat pumps been designed to pump out more heat?
Maybe they considered the tax benefit. Regular heat pumps don't get tax credit but the geothermal ones do.
ReplyDelete