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  4. Modular Radiant Floor Heating and its Effect on Local Thermal Comfort
 
conference paper

Modular Radiant Floor Heating and its Effect on Local Thermal Comfort

Houtart, Diego  
•
Jhang, Han Yun  
•
Licina, Dusan  
Show more
Berardi, Umberto
2025
Multiphysics and Multiscale Building Physics - Proceedings of the 9th International Building Physics Conference IBPC 2024, Building Systems and HVAC Technologies
9th International Building Physics Conference

Radiant floor heating is widely recognized for its low-energy consumption and high efficiency. Traditional systems, however, typically heat the entire floor area within a space, conditioning spaces uniformly regardless of occupancy. This study investigates the efficacy of modular radiant floor heating, focusing on part of the floor near the occupied zone versus thermally activating the entire floor area. Utilizing a 62 m3 climatic chamber and a 22-zone thermal manikin we conducted experiments across 6 different scenarios with heated floor areas ranging from 3 m2 to 20 m2, aiming to achieve the same comfort level of the manikin. Mean radiant temperature and radiant temperature asymmetry were measured using novel high-resolution sensors. The results show that smaller heated areas necessitate higher surface temperatures to maintain thermal comfort (e.g., 38 ℃ for 3 m2, and 29 ℃ for 20 m2). The highest radiant asymmetry was observed in scenarios with single-section activation, while lateral asymmetry peaked with two sections, one on the side. Altering the orientation of heated sections while maintaining the same heated surface area resulted in varied thermal environments. Although modular floor heating induced greater radiant asymmetry compared to uniform floor heating, it remained below the threshold for local discomfort, suggesting a viable pathway to improved energy efficiency and occupant-specific thermal comfort. Further investigation of the modular radiant heating performance requires evaluating its energy efficiency and assessing local comfort with real human participants.

  • Details
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Type
conference paper
DOI
10.1007/978-981-97-8313-7_17
Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85213019382

Author(s)
Houtart, Diego  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Jhang, Han Yun  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Licina, Dusan  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Khovalyg, Dolaana  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Editors
Berardi, Umberto
Date Issued

2025

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH

Published in
Multiphysics and Multiscale Building Physics - Proceedings of the 9th International Building Physics Conference IBPC 2024, Building Systems and HVAC Technologies
Series title/Series vol.

Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering; 554 LNCE

ISSN (of the series)

2366-2565

2366-2557

Start page

110

End page

116

Subjects

Local Heating

•

Radiant Floor

•

Thermal Asymmetry

•

Thermal Manikin

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
HOBEL  
ICE  
Event nameEvent acronymEvent placeEvent date
9th International Building Physics Conference

Toronto, Canada

2024-07-25 - 2024-07-27

Available on Infoscience
January 26, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/245131
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