Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 9 hrs ago
Epic Systems stores data center heat underground for winter use
Epic Systems, a health software company in Verona, Wisconsin, has spent about 20 years building a system to store heat underground.
Its roughly 6,100 wells are 300 to 800 feet deep and help heat and cool about 40 campus buildings.
The heat comes from a 3.5-megawatt data center, which produces it throughout the year.
The system sends heat into the ground in summer and draws it back out in winter.
This addresses a timing problem: buildings need heat mainly in winter, while data centers produce waste heat all year.
Ordinary ground-source heat pumps take heat from the ground, but Epic’s system also stores heat there for later use.
The ground stays near the local yearly average temperature, helping it hold heat between seasons.
The system shows one way to reuse data center heat when nearby buildings do not need it right away.
Epic Systems uses underground wells to store heat from its data center in summer and retrieve it in winter.
The system heats and cools about 40 buildings on the company’s campus in Verona, Wisconsin.
Epic has spent two decades developing the infrastructure, which includes roughly 6,100 wells.
The wells are 300 to 800 feet deep and use waste heat from a 3.5-megawatt data center.
Seasonal storage addresses the mismatch between year-round data center heat and buildings’ shorter heating season.
- Who
- Epic Systems, a health software company.
- What
- It stores data center waste heat underground in summer and uses it to heat buildings in winter.
- When
- Epic has spent two decades developing the system.
- Where
- The company’s campus in Verona, Wisconsin.
- Why
- Data centers produce heat year-round, while buildings need heat for only about four months in most of the United States.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
No direct quotes in the coverage so far.
Epic Systems developed underground heat storage infrastructure on its campus.
The system uses waste heat from a 3.5-megawatt data center to heat and cool about 40 buildings.
- Location
- Verona, Wisconsin
- Wells
- Roughly 6,100
- Well depth
- 300 to 800 feet (90 to 240 meters)
- Data center capacity
- 3.5 megawatts
- Buildings served
- About 40
Sources
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