EXPERIENCIES OF PREDICTING TRANSIENT SURFACE TEMPERATURES

The thermal performance of a building is closely related to both energy consumption and thermal sensation. Therefore, the thermal environment within a building is a key issue when assessing thermal comfort and dimensioning heating devices. Predicting transient surface temperatures requires physically reliable modeling, and integration of a heating device and heat transfer through building structures. A fireplace is selected as an example of a highly time-dependent heating device. Transient thermal behaviour of a test fireplace, and interaction between this heating device and building elements are modeled. All models are based on conservation of energy, and multi-mode heat transfer is allowed. Thermal radiation is taken into account by including surface net radiation components, and an improved progressive refinement method (IPRM) is applied to solve the surface radiosities in a room. The simulation results are presented in 3D graphics, and the results are compared with empirical data with quite good agreement.