Castle De Merode
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The challenge of installing a heat pump in an existing building is much greater than in a new home. And if the request comes from a 14th-century castle, the challenge is even greater… De Merode Castle in Westerlo is a historic castle with a rich past that is surrounded by a moat, an ideal source for aquathermal energy. EXTRAQT carried out the necessary feasibility analyzes on the water lock before putting the project into practice.
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The challenge of installing a heat pump in an existing building is much greater than in a new home. And if the request comes from a 14th-century castle, the challenge is even greater… De Merode Castle in Westerlo is a historic castle with a rich past that is surrounded by a moat, an ideal source for aquathermal energy. EXTRAQT carried out the necessary feasibility analyzes on the water lock before putting the project into practice.
Power
90 kw
CO2 savings
26 tons per year
Water volume
5000 m3
Instead of seeing the moat as an obstacle, it was decided to use the water strategically as a source of heat. We made a Digital Twin of the moat to simulate the cooling of the water when we extract the entire heat demand from it. This feasibility study shows us that an aquathermal installation of 50kW meets the heat demand of the greenhouse.
Aquathermy thus became a no-brainer for the castle in Westero. We worked together with Eco-Technix for the installation. We installed heat exchangers in the moat, with which we extract the energy that is naturally stored in nature. Through a closed system and a pipe network of 100 meters, this heat ends up in the heat pump of the castle. The pump heats the water that flows through the radiators to a pleasant temperature.
The installation works both in the summer when the temperatures are mild and in the winter when the water temperature barely rises above freezing. Heating in this way is economically advantageous because it requires much less energy to heat water via a heat pump than with natural gas. Win-win, because nature also benefits.
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Instead of seeing the moat as an obstacle, it was decided to use the water strategically as a source of heat. We made a Digital Twin of the moat to simulate the cooling of the water when we extract the entire heat demand from it. This feasibility study shows us that an aquathermal installation of 50kW meets the heat demand of the greenhouse.
Aquathermy thus became a no-brainer for the castle in Westero. We worked together with Eco-Technix for the installation. We installed heat exchangers in the moat, with which we extract the energy that is naturally stored in nature. Through a closed system and a pipe network of 100 meters, this heat ends up in the heat pump of the castle. The pump heats the water that flows through the radiators to a pleasant temperature.
The installation works both in the summer when the temperatures are mild and in the winter when the water temperature barely rises above freezing. Heating in this way is economically advantageous because it requires much less energy to heat water via a heat pump than with natural gas. Win-win, because nature also benefits.
Castle De Merode
"We must stop complaining and constant debating, this technology shows that together with engineers and installers we can reach a solution. Aquathermy allows us to quickly and drastically reduce our energy consumption without losing comfort. Also, and equally important, nature shares in the profits. By heating in a less traditional way, we are sending 50 percent less CO2 into the air than last year."
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Interested in an aquathermal installation? Read more on our approach on why an aquathermal system migh be interesting for your water body!
