The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of horizontal GSHP by considering various system parameters for winter climatic condition of Bursa, Turkey. For this purpose, a previously used experimental facility on cooling cycle [Coskun S, Pulat E, Unlu K, Yamankaradeniz R. Experimental performance investigation of a horizontal ground source compression refrigeration machine. International journal of Energy Research 2008: 32: 44-56] was modified for the heating cycle. Soil thermal conductivity estimation was expanded and discussed. Preliminary numerical temperature distribution around GHE pipes was obtained. Tests were performed under laboratory conditions for space heating from December 2004 to March 2005. Variations of entering and leaving antifreeze solution temperatures, extracted heat from ground and rejected heat to the test room, super heat rate in evaporator and subcooling rate in condenser, total power consumption and coefficient of performance (COP) values for both the entire system and only heat pump unit (HPU) were obtained. Effect of outdoor temperature on system capacities and COP values with respect to outdoor air and mean soil temperatures were also presented. The COP of the entire system and HPU lie between 2.46-2.58 and 4.03-4.18, respectively. GSHP system was compared to conventional heating methods in the economical analysis and it was shown that the GSHP system is more cost effective than the all other conventional heating systems. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.