Improving Indoor Thermal Environment in Cold Seasons by South Window and Solar Floor Radiant Heating

Based on the indoor temperature model and corrected composite-fin model, taking a residential building with south windows in Kunming as example, a theoretical study on indoor thermal environment heated by the large-area single-glass south window and the solar low-temperature heated-water floor radiant heating system has been carried out. The results show that the solar energy entering the building through the south window can enhance the indoor thermal environment. However, the indoor temperature is below 16°C from November to February, and the south window can not satisfy people´s thermal comfort. Therefore a better indoor thermal environment can be expected with both solar radiation penetrating the south window and the solar floor radiant heating system. When the south window and the solar floor radiant heating system are simultaneously applied, the indoor temperature is above 17°C and approximately 2°C-3°C higher than that of the room heated by the south window only. The results of this study can enrich the basic thoery of the indoor thermal environment in China.