Performance of a novel central heating system combined with personalized heating devices

This study presents a novel central heating system that combines a conventional central heating network with personalized heating devices. The central heating network is designed to meet the basic heating demand, the indoor room temperature of which is lower than the current design values. Personalized heating devices are installed at the entrance of each indoor heating network to meet the personalized room temperature demand. The system can realize low-temperature heating when spaces are vacant and meet different room temperature demands among end users. The performance of the novel heating system is analyzed and compared with that of a conventional central heating system in terms of energy consumption and CO2 emissions under the climate conditions of Beijing and Harbin. Four types of personalized heating devices, namely, solar heaters, air source heat pumps, electrical heaters, and natural gas heaters, are discussed, and the scenarios of the four typical indoor temperature-setting modes are analyzed. When the basic room temperature is 12 degrees C, the maximum water supply temperatures of the central heating network is reduced from 75 degrees C of the traditional system to 45.8 degrees C (Beijing) and 52 degrees C (in Harbin). Under the four typical indoor temperature setting modes, the energy-saving ratio and CO2 emission reduction of the novel system are promising. In particular, if solar energy is used as the heat source of the personalized heating device in Beijing and Harbin, the primary energy consumption can be reduced by 46.3-75.7 % and 29.4-68.2 %, and CO2 emissions can be reduced by 44.4-74.5 % and 25.2-54.4 %, respectively. For all the discussed scenarios, static payback time is 1.5-8.8 y and 1.0-6.8 y in Beijing and Harbin, respectively.

Automated summary

This study introduces a new central heating system that combines traditional central heating networks with personalized heating devices. The system is able to provide low-temperature heating and meet different room temperature demands among users. By analyzing energy consumption and CO2 emissions, the performance of this novel heating system is compared to that of a conventional system in different climate conditions. The results show promising energy-saving and emission reduction effects, especially when solar energy is used as the heat source for the personalized heating devices.