Comparative analysis of radiant and radiator heating system for a residential building

Energy use for heating and cooling at the household level is rising annually. The residential sector consumes about 69% of energy consumption, out of which the highest percentage is shared by traditional fuel for cooking applications, followed by heating and cooling applications. In such a scenario, the primary goal should be to meet future heating and cooling energy demand through the use of novel technologies such as radiant heating systems (RHS). By utilizing low-temperature fluid flowing through the pipe, the RHS is more efficient than a standard heating system in maintaining the correct interior temperature. These systems are not frequently implemented in Nepal. It is crucial to compare the applicability of the system with technologies like radiator systems. The building provided by Urban Development and Building Construction (UDMC) is used for the study. The radiant and radiator heating system is designed, and the effects of different parameters on the heat transfer coefficient are studied. The maximum heating load is 50kWh for mid of January. A radiant heating system with a panel area of 18.24m² is sufficient to satisfy the heating demand, while radiator heating requires a panel area of 3.6m². To meet the same load, the total pipe length for the radiant and radiator heating systems is 300m and 42m, respectively. Radiant and radiator heating systems had a heat transfer coefficient of 7.76W/m² and 15.34W/m², respectively. The variation is because the radiator system must provide the same amount of heat to the building while having a smaller surface area than the radiant heating system.