This paper presents a design method for the horizontal straight ground heat exchanger (GHE) based on the Kavanaugh design method. In order to examine suitability of the suggested design method, a horizontal line type GHE was installed in a steel box of which the size was 5m x 1m x 1m filled with dried Joomunjin standard, and a thermal response test (TRT) was conducted for 21 hours. A numerical analysis was performed for a simulation of a peak month operation and for its verification by finite element method (FEM). According to the simulation results, it was concluded that the suggested design method for a horizontal straight GHE is reliable for the estimation of a design length.