Lu, X.; Viljanen, M.
October 2001
Energy and Buildings, vol 33-8, p. 865-873
This paper investigates the use of massive electric stove as a thermal storage in order to reduce the heating cost associated with maintaining indoor comfort condition in building. The control of electric stove takes advantage of low night-time electrical rate by shifting heating loads from day-time to night-time. A general numerical modeling of thermal behavior of building envelope, electric stove and indoor air under the condition of outdoor variation is presented in detail. The resultant non-linear system of the heat balance equations, partial differential equations, is solved numerically. Besides the modeling work, attention is put on the control of electric stove's night heating in such way that the stove-stored energy is released during day-time without sacrifice of indoor comfort. A simple control algorithm is given. Model applications show that the night heating with a proper size massive electric stove as a building thermal storage is cost-effective for buildings with night electrical rate benefit, while maintaining a comfortable indoor temperature in the building. Simulation also illustrates that up to 28% heating cost saving can be obtained compared with conventional direct heating.
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