Computational assessment of cooling with low-temperature heating systems

This paper describes the results of a computational study on the feasibility of cooling houses in the Netherlands with a system consisting of a heat exchanger in the soil, a heat pump, and a low temperature heating system. The study is based on simulation of the building using the transient thermal simulation tool VA114, simulation of the thermal storage system using the dedicated Earth Energy Designer (EED) program, and simulation of the indoor air flow using the CFD-tool WISH3D. The results indicate that cooling with such a system is indeed feasible in the Netherlands, if care is taken of the limitation in specific cooling power to prevent condensation. Using constant temperature control, the temperature difference between water and air is limited to 5 K, resulting in a specific cooling power of 12 W/m2. Other passive measures, like solar shading and night ventilation therefore are also required. With this peak load limitation the capacity of the thermal storage system for cooling is sufficient when it is designed for heating only.