Comparative Analysis of Ground-Source and Air-Source Heat Pumps Under Demand Response Strategy

The electrification of space heating, combined with photovoltaic (PV) systems, plays a key role in decarbonizing the building sector but can lead to grid imbalances. Flexible technologies such as Demand Response (DR) can mitigate this. While several studies analyze DR strategies individually for Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs) or Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs), direct comparisons remain limited. This study compares the flexibility of GSHP and ASHP systems in a residential building with PV under DR strategy. Results show that GSHP achieves higher efficiency (COP 6.26 vs. 3.52 for ASHP), better preheating (28.22% vs. 22.94% for ASHP), and greater self-sufficiency (40.23% vs. 33.84% for ASHP) with negligible impact on borehole temperature.