Predictive control of intermittently operated radiant floor heating systems

Use of model predictive control and weather forecasts for energy efficient building climate control

“…The use of disturbance predictions, in particular weather predictions, for building climate control has been investigated in several works [4][5][6][7][8]2]. A link to the cited papers and a more extensive bibliography can be found on the OptiControl website [9].…”

“…In [12] the implementation of MPC for a chilled water plant was investigated. A predictive control strategy using a forecasting model of outdoor air temperature was investigated in [6] for intermittently heated radiant floor heating systems. The experimental results showed that the predictive control strategy saved between 10% and 12% energy during the cold winter months compared to the existing conventional control strategy.…”

Scenario-based sensitivity analysis of energy dynamic behavior in residential buildings with radiant floors

“…The number of operating hours of a heating system has effect on the fluctuation of the indoor temperature, the amount of heat losses and ultimately in the energy consumption of the system. According to [9], two important variables must be determined in predictive control strategy for heating: daily heating operation time and distribution of heating hours throughout the day. In our study, a range of operating hours from 7 to 12 is considered for two reasons: 1) the users do not know the appropriate number of hours to heat the house to achieve the desired comfort at lower energy consumption; 2) willfully the system works less hours than necessary, for example for economic reasons.…”

“…Some authors considered that intermittent strategies save energy without impairing the comfort level [8]. The benefits of an intermittent heating strategy of a radiant floor system to utilize effectively the heat storage of the building mass has been previously investigated [9]. The authors compared the performance of a predictive control applied to an intermittent heating strategy, in order to improve the temperature regulation and consequently the energy efficiency.…”

Effects of Nocturnal Ventilation and Radiant Cooling/ Heating Floors on Indoor Air Temperatures in an Office Building in Hot Arid Region

“…Also, management of passive cooling have a significant impact on the thermal summer comfort in a building [5]. Predictive control strategies improved the energy efficiency of intermittently heated radiant floor heating systems finding energy savings between 10% and 12% during cold winter months [6].…”