Abstract:
This work explores the level of thermal comfort in an occupied space while optimizing the position of a radiant stove space-heating unit with a stack in the room. A finite element 3-D model is developed to accurately determine the view factors between any two surfaces in the space and the human body view factors of Chung and Kim [1] and He [2] using the shadowing algorithm of He [2]. The view factor model is validated against analytical and published data. A space-heat model is developed to determine the surface temperatures, stove heat loss, and mean radiant temperature (MRT). Fanger's model [3] is used to estimate the extent of the comfort of the person as determined by predicted mean vote ( PMV ) and the percent of people dissatisfied ( PPD ). The values of MRT , PMV , and PPD depend strongly on the position of the radiant stove heater with respect to the cold window and the occupant location. Results show that it is possible to save 14percent of the heating energy of the stove by changing the stove position in the room while maintaining the same level of comfort.