Designing Luxury Homes with Limited Power: How Geothermal Heat Pumps Reduce Connected Load
Architects and builders working on large, high-end homes in Melbourne and Sydney are increasingly running into a major hurdle: limited electrical supply. With power distributors capping the available amps per site, and homes growing more complex with features like pools, EV chargers, and automation — hitting that electrical ceiling is becoming a real issue.
One of the biggest culprits? Heating and cooling systems. High-capacity air conditioning and ducted reverse cycle setups can push a property over its limit, triggering costly electrical upgrades, delays, or even rejections from the distributor.
But there’s a smarter solution: geothermal heat pumps. These systems provide high-efficiency heating and cooling while drawing significantly less power — helping your project stay under the threshold, without compromising on performance.
The Electrical Supply Challenge in Luxury Homes
In many urban areas, homes are restricted to a standard electrical connection, typically 80 amps per phase. That might sound like a lot, but with large HVAC systems, electric hot water, multiple fridges, lighting, EV chargers, and entertainment systems, the total connected load can climb quickly.
Exceed that limit, and you’re potentially looking at:
- Costly 3-phase supply upgrades
- Infrastructure changes and new transformer installations
- Project delays of months while approvals are processed
This is a growing problem in high-performance homes where electrification and sustainability are priorities.
Why Traditional HVAC Systems Are a Problem
Air source heat pumps (ASHPs) and ducted reverse-cycle air conditioners are popular, but they’re power-hungry, especially in extreme temperatures. On hot summer days or cold winter mornings, these systems ramp up significantly. In some cases, they even rely on electric resistance heating, which spikes demand dramatically.
That spike can blow through your available supply and cause all sorts of issues for builders, sparkies, and engineers trying to balance a modern home’s electrical load.
The Geothermal Advantage
Geothermal heat pumps, also known as ground source systems, use stable underground temperatures for ultra-efficient heat exchange. The result is:
- COPs of 6-7 far higher than traditional air-based systems
- 50–70% lower energy usage for heating and cooling
- Significantly reduced peak electrical draw
Because they operate steadily and don’t rely on backup elements, geothermal systems help keep your connected load low and predictable — avoiding those demand spikes that cause distributor headaches.
Freeing Up Power for What Matters
With less of your site’s electrical capacity going to HVAC, you can preserve it for:
- EV chargers (7kW–11kW)
- Extensive wine cooling system
- Home automation, lighting, and cinemas
Geothermal gives your clients all the luxury, without the electrical upgrade.
Speak with SóGeo
If you’re an architect or builder working on a project where power capacity is tight, geothermal could be the key to keeping things moving — and keeping the home high-performance without compromise.
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