Improving a Heating Supply Water Temperature Control for Radiant Floor Heating Systems in Korean High-Rise Residential Buildings

Gyuhwan Yeom, Dong Eun Jung and Sung Lok Do
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Gyuhwan Yeom: Department of Building and Plant Engineering, Hanbat National University, 125 Dongseodaero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34158, Korea
Dong Eun Jung: Department of Building and Plant Engineering, Hanbat National University, 125 Dongseodaero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34158, Korea
Sung Lok Do: Department of Building and Plant Engineering, Hanbat National University, 125 Dongseodaero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34158, Korea

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 14, 1-16

Abstract: The number of domestic apartment houses in South Korea that use district heating is steadily increasing. In addition, most Korean residential buildings use radiant floor heating systems. For such systems, the heating water temperature supplied by a heat exchanger in a mechanical room serves as one of the critical control parameters for providing heat to individual residential apartments. Fixed temperature (FT) and outdoor temperature reset control (OTR) have conventionally been used to adjust the heating supply water temperature. However, both control methods have a major technical weakness; they do not reflect changes in residents’ heating use. To overcome this issue, this study proposes a new method for controlling the heating supply water temperature, called Residential Energy Demand (RED). To verify the proposed method, researchers conducted both simulation- and experiment-based tests. The RED control method achieved about 4% reduction in heating energy consumption compared to the conventional OTR control process. In addition, the RED control method increased the average indoor temperature by 0.17 °C during the heating period. Therefore, this study demonstrates that the proposed control method is capable of achieving energy savings and a warmer thermal indoor environment.

Keywords: radiant floor heating; residential building; system control; outdoor temperature reset; residential energy demand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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