What is geothermal drilling?

Over the past decade, the importance of transitioning to sustainable, dependable energy sources has increased significantly. Solar and wind-based energy solutions tend to receive the most attention, but when it comes to heating buildings, tapping into the heat of the earth beneath us is often the best option. 

Here, we explore how geothermal drilling works, and how these systems are designed and installed, to help you understand whether or not it might be a viable solution for your energy needs.

Tapping into the ground’s heat

While the ambient temperature of the air around us changes quite a lot throughout the year, the ground beneath us – once you’ve dug down a few metres – stays at a relatively stable temperature, pretty much the whole year round. 

The idea with geothermal drilling is essentially that you drill a deep hole into the ground, allowing you to tap into that energy, heat water and then heat an entire property.

What the process looks like

There are a few separate stages involved in a geothermal drilling project. 

Geological assessment 

The first step will be to carry out a series of thorough assessments. Technicians will need to attend the site, to check what kind of material needs to be drilled through; our team will also work to understand the heating requirements of the property in question, based on its size, the external temperature throughout the year, and insulation. 

Drilling the hole

Once we know more about the project, we will be able to drill the hole. The hole will need to be somewhere between 50 and 150 metres in depth, depending on the requirements of the property and the details of the site in question. 

We will bring an appropriate drilling rig to the site and then get to work. How long it takes will depend slightly on what’s being drilled through (clay being much quicker than granite, for example), and depth, but it shouldn’t take more than a few days. 

Installing infrastructure

Once the hole is drilled, we will install a loop made up of a U-shaped piece of pipe, filling the spaces around it with grout to ensure a maximally efficient transfer of heat between the ground and the liquid inside the pipe. 

A heat transfer liquid can then be circulated through the pipes, transferring some of that heat from down in the ground up to the heat pump, which will be installed on the surface. That heat pump will be able to essentially amplify the heat that’s been extracted, and use it to heat the property. 

Why choose us?

Here at Teckna, we have decades of experience providing turnkey solutions for geothermal drilling projects up and down the country. 

Whether you’re a homeowner looking to increase your home’s energy efficiency, or run a much larger industrial operation and are looking to insulate your operating costs from geopolitical fluctuations, we’re here to help. 

Reach out to our team today, and we can help you discover whether a geothermal energy solution might be the right option for your energy needs.