Abstract:
In this study an attempt is made to investigate the cooling impact of a nocturnal radiator system for a building in the urban environment of Athens, Greece. The dynamic thermal performance of the system is calculated using an accurate mathematical model, based on the heat transferred from the air circulating inside the radiator to the ambient air. The system’s main function is to cool the ambient air below its designed initial temperature. The cooler air is directed and eventually mixed with the indoor air of the building to provide primarily instantaneous thermal comfort during the night and secondly to cool the interior of the building by convection, thus creating a cold storage for the following day. The energy consumption and the cooling-heating loads are calculated for a typical single story building during the summer period with the aid of the EnergyPlus simulation programme. The validation process was extended for three radiator’s air flow values in order to investigate the impact of different air flows on the system’s efficiency. Moreover, the more effective air flow value of the radiator was used to provide space cooling or pre-cooling for the building. Indoor air temperature values of the thermal zone connected with the radiator were compared with those of the same zone without any cooling system and the results demonstrated a remarkable effectiveness of the system.