Abstract
The heating load of intermittent heating is not always lower than that of continuous heating for heat storage and release of internal walls. Therefore, the threshold value of daily operation hours exists, and is affected by the configuration of internal walls. A comparative study is performed between continuous and intermittent heating modes to investigate the threshold value of daily operation hours for different internal wall configurations by employing computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models. Meanwhile, field tests on the temperature distribution within a thermal mass was carried out to validate the simulation. The results show that the heating load index of intermittent heating is larger than that of continuous heating with increased amplitude ranging from 31.58% to 152.63%. The threshold value of daily operation hours is, respectively, 18.04 h, 15.80 h, 14.59 h, and 13.46 h for four internal wall configurations. Moreover, with the increase in the insulation level of internal walls, the threshold value of daily operation hours decreases. In addition, the results indicate that it is more economical to use continuous heating when the daily operation hours are more than the threshold values.
Highlights
Residential heating issues in the hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) climate zone of China have attracted increasing attention for the low outdoor temperature and absence of district heating [1,2,3].The HSCW climate zone of China, located near the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, is one of the most economically developed regions, and has the highest population density in China
More heat is absorbed a stored by building walls during the heating period, while it is not required for continuous heating mode
The relatively low outdoor temperature and absence of district heating leads to the intermittent heating operation mode in the HSCW climate zone of China
Summary
Residential heating issues in the hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) climate zone of China have attracted increasing attention for the low outdoor temperature and absence of district heating [1,2,3]. The HSCW climate zone of China, located near the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, is one of the most economically developed regions, and has the highest population density in China. According to Chinese heating policy [5], central heating systems are not provided in the HSCW zone. The survey performed by Yoshino [6] and Hu [7] showed that the operation of heating devices in the HSCW zone is intermittent, and occupants run heating devices only in the room they are using
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