Version 1
: Received: 7 September 2018 / Approved: 7 September 2018 / Online: 7 September 2018 (15:28:47 CEST)
Version 2
: Received: 2 November 2018 / Approved: 6 November 2018 / Online: 6 November 2018 (10:35:59 CET)
Version 3
: Received: 4 December 2018 / Approved: 5 December 2018 / Online: 5 December 2018 (12:44:58 CET)
Ferrantelli, A.; Võsa, K.-V.; Kurnitski, J. Optimization of Radiators, Underfloor and Ceiling Heater Towards the Definition of a Reference Ideal Heater for Energy Efficient Buildings. Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 2477.
Ferrantelli, A.; Võsa, K.-V.; Kurnitski, J. Optimization of Radiators, Underfloor and Ceiling Heater Towards the Definition of a Reference Ideal Heater for Energy Efficient Buildings. Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 2477.
Ferrantelli, A.; Võsa, K.-V.; Kurnitski, J. Optimization of Radiators, Underfloor and Ceiling Heater Towards the Definition of a Reference Ideal Heater for Energy Efficient Buildings. Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 2477.
Ferrantelli, A.; Võsa, K.-V.; Kurnitski, J. Optimization of Radiators, Underfloor and Ceiling Heater Towards the Definition of a Reference Ideal Heater for Energy Efficient Buildings. Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 2477.
Abstract
Heat emitters constitute the primary devices used in space heating and cover a fundamental role in the energy efficient use of buildings. In the search for an optimized design, heating devices should be compared with a benchmark emitter with maximum heat emission efficiency. However, such an ideal heater still needs to be defined. In this paper we perform an analysis of heat transfer in a European reference room, considering room side effects of thermal radiation and computing the induced operative temperature both analytically and numerically. By means of functional optimization, we analyse trends such as the variation of operative temperature with radiator panel dimensions, finding optimal configurations. In order to make our definitions as general as possible, we address panel radiators, convectors, underfloor (UFH) and ceiling heating. We obtain analytical formulas for the operative temperature induced by panel radiators and identify the 10-type as our ideal radiator, while the UFH provides the best performance overall. Regarding specifically UFH and ceiling heaters, we find optimal sizes that identify the according ideal emitters. The analytical method and quantitative results reported in this paper can be generalized and adopted in most studies concerning the efficiency of different heat emitter types in building enclosures.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
