Professional Documents
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Thermal Comfort
F. Kalmár, PhD
University of Debrecen, Faculty of Technical Engineering, Department of Building Services, Hungary;
fkalmar@mfk.unideb.hu
1. Introduction
Analysing the energy consumption of most European countries it can be observed that the building sector is
the bigger consumer with a share of 28…32% (Mantzos et al., 2003). In East European countries with a
temperate climate from the total energy consumption of a building heating represents more than 50%. This
fact results from the low thermal characteristics of the building envelope. Taking into account the actual
energy policy of the European Union and the measures related to environment protection different national
projects are launched in order to improve the thermal efficiency of these buildings.
In Hungary there are approximately 4 millions of households and about 3,5 millions are situated in
buildings with an average heat transfer coefficient of the envelope higher than 0,8 W/(m2⋅K) (Csoknyai,
2004). In such conditions when a building is retrofitted from energy point of view important energy savings
could be obtained. Due to the financial limits there are cases when a complex building rehabilitation
(building envelope and heating system) could not be realised. In these situations intermediate solutions
have to be found in order to obtain appropriate thermal comfort at minimal energy consumption.
Thousands of buildings/flats are connected to district heating systems. In Hungary at these systems the
heating process is started when the mean outdoor temperature is lower then 12 oC three consecutive days,
(Halász, 2001). That means comfort problems in buildings where the real balance point temperature differs
from the assumed value.
Improving the thermal resistance of the building envelope beside the lower U value a shorter heating period
is obtained (Kalmár, 2004). If the heating system is not redesigned and completely changed the existent one
has to be controlled properly otherwise the expected energy savings could not be obtained. There are cases
when the output of the heating system radiators is controlled only by thermostatic valves. Practice has
shown (Petitjean, 1997) that in such situations the thermostatic valves could not operate properly because a
stable degree of opening cannot be found. It then works in on/off mode with oscillations in the room
temperature. Changing the heat carrier temperature such situations may be avoided. If the temperature drop
is kept constant depending on the rehabilitation level the optimal forward temperature could be determined
(Kalmár, 2003). At the same rehabilitation level in function of the room position the heat load reduction is
different. Thus, in rooms with different heat loss coefficient the required forward temperature differs from
the “optimal” value. If the required forward temperature is higher the radiator surface has to be increased. If
the required temperature is lower the difference is controlled by the thermostatic valves. As it could be seen
in the following if the thermostatic valves are not chosen and set correctly the operation will be unstable.
2. Balance point temperature of a building
Neglecting the variation of stored heat, during the heating system operation, the condition of thermal
balance is:
Qt + Qtb + Q v + Q s + Qi + Q h = 0 (1)
where: Qt are the transmission heat losses; Qtb – heat losses by thermal bridges; Qv – heat losses by
ventilation; Qs – solar gains; Qi – internal gains; Qh – heat delivered by heating system.
The heat to be delivered by the heating system depends on the climatic conditions and the internal set point
temperature. The main goal is the minimization of the heat load and the energy consumption. From energy
point of view the achievement of the internal set point temperature without auxiliary heating is favourable.
When the heating system does not operate due to the solar and internal gains the internal temperature would
exceed the external one. The balance point temperature is the external temperature when the heat gains are
equal to the heat losses:
Q s + Qi
tb = ti − (2)
K
where: K is the heat loss coefficient of the building; ti – internal set point temperature.
Using the balance point temperature value and the specific degree day curve the length of a heating season
could be determined (fig. 1).
20
15
10
tem, [oC]
5
0
-5
-10
-15
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260
days
t −t
t i − t e0 − i ' b
K
K
N ' = N (6)
t b − t e 0
The variation of balance point temperature and number of days in the new heating season in function of the
rehabilitation level when the original value of balance point temperature is 12 oC is presented in Figure 2.
50
45
(tb-tb')/tb; (N-N')/N, [%]
40
35
30
25
20
15
10 (tb-tb')/tb
5 (N-N')/N
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
(K-K')/K, [%]
E=K ∫ (t
0
i − t e )dx (7)
So that using the (5)-(7) equations the ratio of the energy consumption before and after rehabilitation could
be determined as follows:
= ⋅ ⋅
[
E ' K ' N ' (t i − t e 0 ) − 2,566 N '
0 , 3835
]
[
E K N (t i − t e 0 ) − 2,566 N 0,3835 ] (8)
If the original value of the balance point temperature was 12 oC the variation of the energy consumption
ratio depending on the rehabilitation level is presented in Figure 3.
1
0,8
Q'/Q; E'/E
0,6
0,4
Q'/Q
0,2
E'/E
0
1 0,95 0,9 0,85 0,8 0,75 0,7 0,65 0,6
K'/K
30
25
20
15 15%
10 30%
5
0
0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1 1,1
A/V
10
A/V=0,60
8
A/V=0,80
6
4 A/V=1,00
2
0
15 20 25 30 35
Qgains, [W/m2]
FIG. 5: Balance point temperature for different building types (30% glazed area of the facades).
The calculus was made for the worst values of the external building elements. As it could be seen there are
important differences between balance point temperature values which results in shorter or longer heating
season. The length of the heating season depends also on the thermal properties of the building envelope.
Assuming that before thermal rehabilitation, for a building, the balance point temperature was 12 oC, in
Figure 6 the variation of the heat demand is presented during the heating season.
A/V=0,40; Uw all=1,5 W/m2K; Uw in=2,5 W/m2K
1
0,9
0,8 Q/Qmax
0,7 (Q-Qgains)/Qmax
0,6
Q/Qmax
0,5
0,4
0,3
0,2
0,1
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
N, [days]
0,5
0,4
0,3
0,2
0,1
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
N, [days]
60
50
40
30
20
Uw all=1,5 W/m2K; Uw in=2,5 W/m2K]
10 Uw all=0,5 W/m2K;Uw in=1,0 W/m2K
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
N, [days]
85
80
tf, [oC]
75
70 Uw all=1,5 W/m2K
Uw all=0,9 W/m2K
65
Uw all=0,5 W/m2K
60
0 0,02 0,04 0,06 0,08 0,1 0,12 0,14 0,16 0,18 0,2 0,22
δ, [m]
1
0,9
0,8
0,7
m'/mo
0,6
0,5
0,4
0,3
0,2
25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45
∆ tln, [oC]
FIG. 11: Control curves at 75/55 oC and required forward temperature in the corner rooms.
It could be observed that at design value of the external temperature the heat carrier temperature difference
which has to be controlled by thermostatic valves is ca. 13 oC. Using the diagram from Figure 10 results the
necessary flow ratio equal to 0.46. This ratio is almost constant during the heating season as it could be
seen in Figure 12.
0,5
0,48
0,46
m/mo
0,44
0,42
0,4
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
te, [oC]
50 W
40 S
30 NE, NW
20
10 SE, SW
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
days
5. Conclusions
When a building is retrofitted from energy point of view about 30% of the total energy saving is obtained
due to the shorter heating season. The new balance point temperature value depends on the rehabilitation
level and on the original thermo-physical state of the building envelope. The influence of heat gains will
increase significantly after rehabilitation.
If the central heating system elements are not redesigned and changed the output of the existent system has
to be adjusted properly to the new energy demand. Because the reduction of heat demand in different
rooms depends on the position the required value of the new forward temperature is different. Choosing a
value which covers the heat demand in most of rooms, there will be other rooms where the set value will be
higher. The difference should be controlled by a mass flow reduction. If these differences are not taken into
account presetting the thermostatic valves there will be rooms where the control will be unstable. The
unstable control will lead to oscillations of the internal temperature and also the heat gains cold not be
exploited properly. Presetting the right value of the mass flow at the thermostatic valves the system
balancing has to be revised.
In the calculus only heat gains were taken into account as disturbing factors. If the radiators are over
dimensioned or the system is not balanced properly etc. the right operation of thermostatic valves will be
affected more and more. The existent heating system capacity could be adjusted to the new energy
requirements of the retrofitted building but to obtain the expected energy savings a complex energy and
economically analysis have to be done choosing the most economical solution.
6. References
Csoknyai T. (2004). Energy conscious retrofit of residential buildings made with industrialized technology,
PhD thesis, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, 105 pages.
Halász E. (2001). Analysis of district heating systems using mathematical models taking into account the
optimal control of the occupants needs, PhD thesis, Budapest University of Technology and
Economics, 107 pages.
Kalmár F. (2002). Energy analysis of building thermal insulation, Proc. 11th Symposium for Building
Physics, Dresden, Germany, September 26-30, p.103-112.
Kalmár F. (2003). Optimal forward temperature in retrofitted buildings, Proc. of 2nd Int. Conference on
Building Physics, Leuven, Belgium, 14-18 September, p. 649-656.
Kalmár F. (2004). Adjustment of central heating systems to reduced energy needs of retrofitted buildings,
PhD thesis, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, 104 pages.
Mantzos L. et al. (2003). European Energy and Transport Trends to 2030, European Commission,
Directorate-General for Energy and Transport.
Petitjean R. (1997). Total hydronic balancing, Ljung: Tour&Andersson AB.