The school in Nasavrky near Chrudim is heated by geothermal energy

Nasavrky (Chrudim Region) - The elementary school in Nasavrky in the Chrudim region has begun heating its building and warming water using a heat pump. The energy source is an extensive network of deep wells around the building. The school is expected to save about 350,000 crowns annually on gas, which it previously used, said the mayor of Nasavrky, Milan Chvojka, to ČTK after the heating system was commissioned.
  The system has a designed output of 308 kilowatts, taking heat from 52 wells at a depth of 100 meters. The installation costs for the heat pump amounted to 11.7 million crowns, 85 percent of which was covered by a subsidy from the State Environmental Fund and the European Union's Operational Programme for Infrastructure. The remaining approximately 1.7 million crowns were paid by the municipality, which is the school’s founder.
    "We anticipate that we will save about half of our energy costs annually. With current prices, our share of the investment should pay back in four to five years," stated Chvojka.
    A heat pump is a device that can extract heat from the ground, water, or air by cooling it. It requires a fraction of the electrical energy that would be necessary to provide the same level of heating using electric heaters.
    In extreme cold, the school can use the original gas boiler for supplementary heating, which is more advantageous, as the efficiency of the heat pump is low at very low temperatures. The radiators and distribution systems did not need to be changed. If the heat pump proves successful, the Nasavrky municipality plans to install additional such systems in other municipal buildings. However, this requires obtaining state or European subsidies, without which the payback period for heat pumps is very long.
    Heat pumps are becoming increasingly common in public buildings in the Pardubice Region. For example, they are used in the regional center for environmental education in Oucmanice in the Orlickoústecko area, a social services home in Lubná in the Svitavy region, the Roman Catholic parish in Ronov nad Doubravou, or the House of Children and Youth in Heřmanův Městec in the Chrudim region. A pioneer in the installation of heat pumps in the region is the town of Skuteč in the Chrudim district, which uses this method to heat an elementary school, a gymnasium with an art school, a local retirement home, and an indoor swimming pool.