Field measurement of a residential floor cooling system and evaluation of human thermal comfort
Keywords:
floor cooling, thermal environment, thermal comfort, field measurement, residential buildingAbstract
A residential floor cooling system was tested, and the indoor thermal environmental parameters during the stable operation period of the system were measured. Based on the measured data, the indoor thermal environmental characteristics were analyzed, and the human thermal comfort was also evaluated from two aspects including overall thermal comfort and local thermal discomfort. The results show that during the stable operating period of the system, the PMV index can be controlled with a range of -0.32 – 0.35 during a test day cycle through the on-off control of the chiller despite a large variation of outdoor air temperature. Due to a small supply of air volume, the local thermal discomfort caused by draft can be avoided. Because of the large thermal inertia and large storage coolness capacity of radiant floor and other envelopes, the indoor temperature fluctuates little with load variation so that there are no discomforts due to temperature fluctuations with time. Because residential building load is relatively small and thus the cooling floor bears only a small cooling load, the cooling floor surface temperature is not too low to cause local discomfort of the human feet. Floor cooling increases the vertical gradient of air temperature, and thus causes local discomfort of the human body. The results can provide a reference for the application and promotion of a residential radiant floor cooling system in similar buildings.Downloads
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