A water-water heat pump is more efficient than the standard air-waterheat pumps, it doesn’t make noise and it can heat as well as cool your house. But installing it requires digging a well of 150 meters deep, somewhere around your house. This is very expensive, and the equipment necessary for digging such a well won’t fit through your door or garden gate. Therefore the technique is mainly used on new building sites.
GEHECO co-founder Arjen van der Horst wanted to make sure more houses could profit from the benefits of a water-water heat pump, so together with his partner Onno Bierhoff, he developed a method of drilling wells in gardens without the use of heavy equipment.
Hassle
The idea first came up when Arjen wanted to make his own house more sustainable, and he discovered the hassle that came with installing a water-water heat pump. For his own house, he eventually settled on a air-water heat pump that most houses use, but his engineering mind was already working on a more efficient way of digging the wells. Via a cofounder event in 2023, he found Onno, who was just as enthusiastic about exploring this new solution as he was, and GEHECO was born.
The solution Arjen thought up was drilling several shallower holes of about 40 to 50 meters deep, and looping these wells. With this approach, the energy transfer between the water in the pipes and the ground was still sufficient to supply the heat pump, but they needed a lot less drilling power. This resulted in the development of two different products: a machine that can drill the wells, the ASU, and the actual wells and drill head, the PDUs.
We are very practical guys that saw a problem and just want to solve it. If our solution can help reduce the emission of CO2, we would be very happy.”
Different approach
While their products are quite niche, Arjen and Onno see a lot of interest in the water-water heat pump market. Their main advantage is their different approach: other drilling companies are often focused on scaling down current equipment instead of taking a whole new approach to the wells itself. This new take has already led to partnerships with companies like Itho Daalderop, the main producer of water-water heat pumps in the Netherlands.
During the conversations we had, many people from the industry asked us if we could install our wells in their back garden. We got so many requests that we started a fan program, where you can sign up to be one of the first to try our new system.”
Accelerator program
Arjen and Onno both agree that joining the YES!Delft Accelerator program helped them to develop their company as quickly as they have. The networking opportunities and the professionals offering guidance on various topics were key to their development. They also praise the help of the other startups in their group, with whom they are still in contact to discuss the challenges startups face.
Last summer, GEHECO held its first successful funding round, and now it’s gearing up towards the technical demonstrations of its equipment at the Green Village. The step after that, is to place installations in gardens around the country and use the information gathered from these tests to develop a fully commercialized product. To achieve this, GEHECO is always looking for new talent that wants to join them for internships and companies that are willing to help them test their products and revolutionize the field.
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