Evaluation of thermal comfort and energy consumption in a room with different heating systems

Indoor thermal environment is much affected by characteristics of an equipped heating system. Such thermal environmental factors as temperature, air velocity, radiant temperature and their distributions can influence the thermal sensation and the energy consumption of a heating system. Quality of thermal environment can depend on a heating system installed. In this study, differences between a floor heating system and a wall-mounted air conditioning unit are investigated in terms of the thermal sensation and the energy consumption using the coupled simulation of convection-radiation-thermoregulation. A human body model precisely reproducing features of a male adult is positioned on the floor in the leg-out posture. The thermal sensation of the whole body with different heating systems is assumed to be equal as long as heat release from the human body is the same. Subject experiments are also conducted in a room within a climate chamber under the same conditions as the simulation. Results of simulation and experiments are compared in terms of thermal comfort and energy consumption.