Cooling Thermal Comfort and Efficiency Parameters of Ceiling Panels, Underfloor Cooling, Fan-Assisted Radiators, and Fan Coil

Karl-Villem Vosa*, Andrea Ferrantelli, Jarek Kurnitski

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)
69 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Climate change has brought a compelling need for cooling living spaces to the attention of researchers as well as construction professionals. The problem of overheating enclosures is now exacerbated in traditionally affected areas and is also affecting countries that were previously less prone to the issue. In this paper, we address measurements of thermal comfort and cooling emission efficiency parameters for different devices: ceiling panels, underfloor cooling, fan-assisted radiators, and fan coil. These devices were tested in low and high cooling capacities of up to 40 W/m(2) while also featuring heating dummies to imitate internal heat gains. Air temperatures were measured at different heights, allowing to evaluate the thermal stratification with high accuracy. Thermal comfort differences of the tested systems were quantified by measuring both air velocities and operative temperatures at points of occupancy. In summary, the best-performing cooling devices for the studied cooling applications were the ceiling panels and fan radiators, followed by underfloor cooling, with a limitation of stratification. Because of the strong jet, fan coil units did not achieve thermal comfort within the whole occupied zone. The results can be utilized in future studies for cooling emission efficiency and energy consumption analyses of the different cooling devices.

Original languageEnglish
Article number4156
Number of pages19
JournalEnergies
Volume15
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2022
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • cooling
  • measurements
  • ceiling panels
  • underfloor cooling
  • fan-assisted radiators
  • fan coil
  • energy efficiency
  • BUILDINGS
  • PERFORMANCE
  • SYSTEMS
  • VENTILATION

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  • FinEst Twins: FinEst Twins

    Nieminen, M. (Principal investigator)

    01/12/201930/11/2026

    Project: EU: Framework programmes funding

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