1991 Volume 419 Pages 39-46
Panel heating systems with floor heat storage, the thermal energy stored in which is gradually transferred to the room space, are considered effective in providing a stable and comfortable thermal environment. Sufficient insulation of the building envelopes is very important to enable us to have the panel heating systems that give such a thermally comfortable room space. However, the quantitative relationships between thermal characteristics of the building envelopes, thermal capacity of the floor, the thermal comfort and heating energy requirements have not been studied extensively. This paper describes the results of a numerical analysis on these relationships. We have found the following : the concrete floor of about 10cm is effective not only in reducing the heating energy demand but also in lowering the water temperature supplied to the floor ; the building envelopes should be covered with the foam-polystylene insulation of at least 4 cm or equivalent in case of Tokyo so that the floor surface temperature can be reduced to a desired level.
