This paper evaluates the performance of a geothermal heat pump in Iran. An air-to-air 5.275 kW heat pump has been changed and redesigned to a geothermal heat pump system for the first time in Iran. Air-to-air condenser has been replaced by a tube-in-tube heat exchanger and assembled system has been tested under ARI-325 standard at the national energy lab of Iran and the results have been compared with the original system. Then, local weather conditions and soil properties of Tabriz (located at the north-west of Iran) have been applied and geothermal coil has been designed. Coil has been connected to the heat pump and the average coefficient of performance (COP) of rather more than three has been recorded in cooling mode. Results obtained from experimental measurements show that horizontal GSHP systems can be used for Tabriz-like climates in Iran. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.