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Turning up the heat on obsolete thermostats: A simulation-based comparison of intelligent control approaches for residential heating systems

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  • Nägele, Florian
  • Kasper, Thomas
  • Girod, Bastien

Abstract

This article provides an overview and quantitative evaluation of the performance of heating control approaches for residential buildings. First, heating control technologies discussed in the literature are reviewed and conceptualized in a taxonomy of eight archetypical control approaches. Subsequently, the performance of each heating control approach is evaluated in terms of energy consumption and comfort for occupants. For this evaluation, data on in-room temperature, heating behavior and occupancy patterns of households in Southern Germany was collected over a 14-month period. Integrating this data into a building simulation, the performance of each control approach was evaluated on a per household basis. Based on this evaluation, we find that control approaches applying automated setpoint variation (i.e. intelligent) outperform scheduled setpoint variation such as programmable thermostats. Compared to simple on-off control without temperature setpoint variation, we find median energy savings potentials in the range of 21–26% and observe higher thermal comfort compared to programmable thermostats. Our findings point to the efficiency improvement potential of intelligent heating control, in particular for old buildings and households with high vacancy times. Because of the comparatively low initial investment and high energy savings potential, the results suggest that policy should extend its focus from retrofitting heating systems and building insulation towards more efficient energy use enabled by intelligent control.

Suggested Citation

  • Nägele, Florian & Kasper, Thomas & Girod, Bastien, 2017. "Turning up the heat on obsolete thermostats: A simulation-based comparison of intelligent control approaches for residential heating systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 1254-1268.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:75:y:2017:i:c:p:1254-1268
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.112
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    Cited by:

    1. Clara Ceccolini & Roozbeh Sangi, 2022. "Benchmarking Approaches for Assessing the Performance of Building Control Strategies: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-30, February.
    2. Tuule Mall Kull & Martin Thalfeldt & Jarek Kurnitski, 2020. "PI Parameter Influence on Underfloor Heating Energy Consumption and Setpoint Tracking in nZEBs," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, April.
    3. Schäuble, Dominik & Marian, Adela & Cremonese, Lorenzo, 2020. "Conditions for a cost-effective application of smart thermostat systems in residential buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    4. Zhao, B.Y. & Zhao, Z.G. & Li, Y. & Wang, R.Z. & Taylor, R.A., 2019. "An adaptive PID control method to improve the power tracking performance of solar photovoltaic air-conditioning systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Christina Turley & Margarite Jacoby & Gregory Pavlak & Gregor Henze, 2020. "Development and Evaluation of Occupancy-Aware HVAC Control for Residential Building Energy Efficiency and Occupant Comfort," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-30, October.

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