Heat Supply Comparison in a Single-Family House with Radiator and Floor Heating Systems

Abstract

Floor heating and radiators are two of the most common types of hydronic heating systems used for space heating in single-family houses in cold climate regions. Notwithstanding, there are few comparative studies on indoor temperature distribution and system cost evaluations for radiators and floor heating. Furthermore, there are no aligned outcomes in terms of total heat supply for a single-family house with radiators or floor heating. In this study, the effect of building energy efficiency level and construction type, including flooring material, on the supply heating demand and transmission heat losses were studied for both radiator and floor heating systems. For this purpose, a single-family house located in Växjö, Sweden, was modeled as a case study. The heating demand was supplied with a district heating system with a similar supply temperature at 45 °C for both the radiator and floor heating system. A sensitivity analysis was also performed to assess the effect of flooring configurations on the annual supply heating demand for both conventional and passive versions of the case-study building. The results showed that the radiator-integrated building had a lower supply heating demand in comparison with the floor heating-integrated buildings. Based on the sensitivity studies, the flooring material did not have a significant influence on the supply heating demand and on the transmission heat losses in the case of the radiators. The supply heating demand was only reduced up to 3% if the flooring U-value was improved by 60%. The results also showed that refurbishment in a standard conventional building with a radiator heating system based on the passive criteria led to a 58% annual energy savings, while this amount for a building with a floor heating system was approximately 49%.

Modelling 2-D Heat Transfer Problem for Different Material Combination

“…Furthermore, the simulations were conducted with parameter values and boundary conditions that were as close to those in reality as possible. Generally, the floor heating system operates at a temperature of 45°C, which is approximately 320K [24]. Table 8 and Figure 19 illustrate the results of this simulation.…”

Gas-electric hybrid wall-mounted boiler

“…Hydronic heating for households can be achieved with low-temperature devices like "underfloor heating," which, in some cases, proves cost-effective and allows for the use of air-to-water heat pumps at ambient temperatures down to -10°C [14]. "Underfloor heating" exhibits high thermal inertia, and standard room air thermostatic heating control systems are ineffective with such heating devices.…”

Modern research on the use of underfloor heating

“…[2][3][4] Underfloor heating system is improved by creating special devices for its installation, operation, repair and dismantling. A great variety of experiments is carried out to compare the present heating system and its subtypes with the traditional one [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12].…”