Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1753–1758

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Energy and Buildings

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A calculation method for the floor surface temperature in radiant floor system
Xing Jin ∗ , Xiaosong Zhang, Yajun Luo
School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, No. 2 Sipailou, Nanjing 210096, PR China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper, a calculation method for the floor surface temperature in radiant floor heating/cooling
Received 20 February 2010 system is proposed, a new formula is derived to estimate the floor surface temperature. The floor is
Received in revised form 24 April 2010 divided into two layers. The correlation for the thermal conductivity of the lower layer is developed
Accepted 13 May 2010
based on the numerical model of the radiant floor system built in this paper. The results show that the
floor surface temperature values from the proposed method are in agreement with the experimental and
Keywords:
numerical values.
Radiant floor system
© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Numerical simulation
Temperature
Composite grid

1. Introduction
The radiant floor heating system has been widely used in many
countries for its energy savings, comfort and health [1,2]. Due to the
high radiant heat output and the fact that the occupants are close to
the heat source (the floor), the same floor system obviously could
also be used for cooling [3]. In recent years, the radiant floor heat-
ing/cooling system has been studied by more and more researchers
[1,4–7].
Because the room temperature and the heat transfer coefficient
between the floor and the walls almost both keep the same dur-
ing heating or cooling, the floor surface temperature is the most
important parameter which affects the heating/cooling capacity of
the system. In addition, considering the comfort and condensation,
the floor surface temperature of radiant floor system should be kept
in certain temperature ranges during heating or cooling. In sum-
mer, the floor surface temperature should not be lower than 19 ◦ C,
while in winter, it should not be higher than 29 ◦ C [1]. Therefore,
in the design and the operation of the radiant floor system, the
floor surface temperature is one of the most important parame-
ters.
The temperature field of radiant floor is usually obtained by
finite difference, finite volume or finite element method in sim-
ulation models, and then the floor surface average temperature is
calculated [8–12]. As we know, the partial differential equations
are very complicated to solve, and it will take a lot of time to pro-
gram and calculate. Therefore, in this paper, a method which is
used to calculate the floor surface temperature in radiant floor sys-
tem is proposed. The comparison of the calculated values with the
experimental and numerical values is also presented.
2. Methodology
2.1. Floor construction
There are two kinds of floor constructions, which are homoge-
nous floor and multilayer floor, respectively [9]. The constructions
of them are shown in Fig. 1.The homogenous floor means there is
only one kind of material above the pipes. The material is usually
concrete, mortar or gypsum cement [7–9]. The material of sur-
face layer in multilayer floor may be wood, tile, etc. In some other
systems, there is not cement mortar layer.
2.2. Proposed method
The floor is assumed to have m layers above the insulating layer.
The thickness of each layer is ı1 , ı2 , · · · ım , respectively. The thermal
conductivity of each layer is 1 , 2 , · · · m , respectively. All the layers
above the insulating layer can be divided into 2 layers, as shown in
Fig. 2. The upper layer is consisted of the 1st layer, 2nd layer, · · · and
a part of the mth layer. The lower layer is consisted of the pipes and
the rest part of the mth layer. The temperature of the bottom surface
of the lower layer is assumed to be equal to the water temperature.
The temperatures of the floor surface, the interface between the
layers and the bottom surface of the lower layer are assumed to be
uniform.
The heat transfer equations can be obtained [13]:

q = hs (ts − ta ) (1)
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 25 83792722; fax: +86 25 83792722.
E-mail address: jxining@163.com (X. Jin). q = Ku (tb − ts ) (2)

0378-7788/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2010.05.011
1754 X. Jin et al. / Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1753–1758

Nomenclature

a length (m)
A area ratio
b width (m)
D diameter (m)
F area (m2 )
Gr Grashof number
h heat transfer coefficient [W/(m2 K)]
H hydraulic diameter (m)
Fig. 2. Schematic of heat transfer in the floor.
K heat conduction coefficient [W/(m2 K)]
L characteristic length (m)
Pr Prandtl number l 
Kl = = l (7)
q heat flux (W/m2 ) ıl Dp
R thermal resistance [(m2 K)/W]
where ıu and ıl are the thickness of the upper layer and the lower
S pipe spacing (mm)
layer, respectively. Dp is the diameter of the pipe. l is the thermal
t temperature (◦ C)
conductivity of the lower layer.
T temperature (K)
Eq. (3) can be re-written as follows:
X angle factor
q
tb = tw − (8)
Greek symbols Kl
ε emissivity
By substituting Eq. (8) into Eq. (2):
 thermal conductivity [W/(m K)]
 Boltzmann constant [W/(m2 K4 )] Ku Kl (tw − ts )
q= (9)
ı thickness (mm) Ku + Kl
By substituting Eqs. (7) and (9) into Eq. (1), the formula for estimat-
Subscripts
ing the floor surface temperature is derived in Eq. (10):
a air
b between hs ta (1 + (Ku Dp )/l ) + Ku tw
ts = (10)
c convective hs (1 + (Ku Dp )/l ) + Ku
i insulating layer
The floor surface heat transfer coefficient in Eq. (10) can be calcu-
l lower
lated by Eq. (11) [13]:
os room other surfaces (walls and ceiling)
p pipe hr (ts − tos ) + hc (ts − ta )
hs = (11)
r radiant ts − ta
s floor surface where hr and hc are the radiant and convective heat transfer coef-
u upper ficient, respectively. tos is the average temperature of room other
w water surfaces (walls and ceiling).
The radiant heat transfer coefficient can be calculated by the
Eqs. (12) and (13) [13]:
q = Kl (tw − tb ) (3)
(Ts + Ts )(Ts2 + Tos
2)
where hs is the floor surface heat transfer coefficient, Ku and Kl are hr = (12)
the heat conduction coefficient of the upper layer and the lower

6
((1/ε1 ) − 1) + 1/X12 + F1 / Fi ((1/ε2 ) − 1)
layer, respectively. ts is the floor surface temperature, ta is the air
2
temperature, tb is the temperature of the interface between the
layers, tw is the water temperature.
6
i=2
(Fi Ti )
The thickness and heat conduction coefficient of the layers are Tos = 6 (13)
presented in the following equations [13]: F
i=2 i

ıu = ı1 + ı2 + · · · + ım − Dp (4) where F1 is the floor area, Fi is the wall or ceiling area.

In the case of heating, the natural convective heat transfer coef-
ıl = Dp (5) ficient for heated floor can be calculated by Eq. (14) [14]:
1 2.175
Ku = (6) hc = (ts − ta )0.308 (14)
ı1 /1 + ı2 /2 + · · · + (ım − Dp )/m H 0.076

Fig. 1. The floor construction (a) the homogenous floor (b) the multilayer floor.
 X. Jin et al. / Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1753–1758 1755

where
4ab
H= (15)
2(a + b)

where a and b are the length and width of the room, respectively.
In the case of cooling, the natural convective heat transfer coef-
ficient for cooled floor can be calculated by Eq. (16) [13]:

a
hc = 0.27 (GrPr)0.25 (16)
L
where
a+b
L= (17)
2
In Eq. (10), l is the only unknown parameter. Therefore, for cal-
culating the floor surface temperature, l should be derived firstly
according to the floor construction. Fig. 3. Sub-domains of the floor.

3. The correlation of l

As shown in Fig. 2, the thermal conductivity of the lower layer

(l ) is affected by the pipe diameter (Dp ), the pipe spacing (S), the
thermal conductivity of the mth layer (m ), the thermal conductivity
of the pipe (p ) and the water velocity. The water flow in the pipe
is assumed to be turbulent. Therefore, l can be presented by Eq.
(18):

l = f (m , p , A) (18)

where
4SDp
A= (19)
Dp2

where A is the area ratio between lower layer and pipe.

In the following sections, a numerical model will be built and
the correlation of l will be developed using the model. Fig. 4. The composite grids in pipes and floor layers.

3.1. Numerical model of radiant floor system using finite volume The boundary conditions of the governing equations are:
method with composite grids
∂t
= 0, (x, y ∈ AE, GC, BF, HD) (22)
In order to simplify the model of heat transfer, the following ∂x
assumptions are applied: t = ti , (x, y ∈ CD) (23)

(1) The variation of the water temperature along with the pipe is ∂t
s = hs (t − ta ), (x, y ∈ AB) (24)
negligible, so the heat transfer in the floor can be simplified to ∂y
the two-dimensional heat transfer. t = tw , (x, y ∈ EG, FH) (25)
(2) The vertical central planes of the pipes are assumed to be adi-
abatic because of the symmetry of the temperature field. The floor surface average temperature is calculated by Eq. (26):
(3) The temperature of the bottom surface of the insulating layer  S
is assumed to be uniform. 1
ts = ti0 dx (26)
(4) All the materials are assumed to be isotropic mediums. S 0

where ti is the temperature of the bottom surface of the insulating

For providing better heat transfer simulation in the pipe, com- layer, s is the thermal conductivity of the surface layer.
posite grids are used in the model. The whole floor layer is divided
into 3 sub-domains, as shown in Fig. 3. The rectangular coordinate
3.2. The correlation of l
system is used in I (surface layer, cement mortar layer, concrete
layer and insulating layer), while the polar coordinate system is
Using the numerical model, l is calculated under different m ,
used in II, III (pipe). Fig. 4 shows the composite grids in pipes and
p and A. Figs. 5–7 show the effects of them on l . As shown in
floor layers.
these figures, l reduces with the increase of A, while it increases
Governing equations for the floor:
with the increase of m and p . The relationship between l and m ,
∂2 t ∂2 t p , A is linear, logarithmic and exponential, respectively. However,
2
+ 2 = 0, (x, y ∈ I) (20) the increment of l is very little when p is greater than 2 W/(m K),
∂x ∂y
which means the effects of p on l and ts are both very little. There-
∂2 t 1 ∂2 t fore, in this paper, the effects of p on l and ts are negligible when
2
+ 2 2 = 0, (r,  ∈ II, III) (21)
∂r r ∂ p is greater than 2 W/(m K).
1756 X. Jin et al. / Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1753–1758

Fig. 5. The effect of m on l . Fig. 7. The effect of A on l .

Fig. 6. The effect of p on l . Fig. 8. The effect of l on the floor surface temperature.

According to the numerical results, the correlation of l is devel-

oped as following by regression method:
−1.4264
l = 8.545ln(2.0335+p )(1.1596+m )(1.3219+A) (p < 2W/(m K)) (27)
−1.5753
l = −0.031 + 23.8723(0.2844 + m )(−0.9502 + A) (p ≥ 2W/(m K)) (28)

4. Results and discussions

4.1. The effect of l on the floor surface temperature

Fig. 8 shows the effect of l on the floor surface temperature

when heating or cooling. The diameter of pipe is 20 mm, Ku is
15 W/(m2 K). When heating, the temperatures of air, walls and
ceiling are all 20 ◦ C, the floor surface heat transfer coefficient is
10 W/(m2 K), the water temperature is 30 ◦ C and 35 ◦ C, respectively.
When cooling, the temperatures of air, walls and ceiling are all
26 ◦ C, the floor surface heat transfer coefficient is 6.4 W/(m2 K), the Fig. 9. The effect of hs on the floor surface temperature.
water temperature is 17 ◦ C and 19 ◦ C, respectively. As shown in the
figure, the effect of l on the floor surface temperature is very lit- 4.2. The effect of hs on the floor surface temperature
tle when l is greater than 2 W/(m K). That is because the thermal
resistance of the lower layer is much smaller than that of the upper Fig. 9 shows the effect of the surface heat transfer coefficient on
layer, and tb is close to tw when l is greater than 2 W/(m K). the floor surface temperature when heating. The diameter of pipe is
 X. Jin et al. / Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1753–1758 1757

Table 1
Comparison of the calculated values with the experimental values in [7].

Material/water temperature 15 ◦ C 20 ◦ C 25 ◦ C 30 ◦ C 35 ◦ C 40 ◦ C

texp tcal texp tcal texp tcal texp tcal texp tcal texp tcal

Mortar 17.0 16.8 20.8 20.8 24.5 24.8 28.1 28.5 31.8 32.1 35.2 35.6
Plywood 19.1 18.6 21.3 21.6 23.5 24.6 26.1 27.3 28.1 29.8 30.1 32.3
PVC 18.2 17.2 21.1 21.0 24.0 24.8 27.0 28.2 30.0 31.5 32.7 34.8
Insulation mortar 19.0 18.4 21.6 21.5 24.1 24.6 26.0 27.4 28.0 30.0 30.0 32.5
Carpet 18.2 19.6 20.5 22.0 24.5 24.5 26.0 26.6 29.5 28.5 29.7 30.5
Aluminium 20.4 20.8 24.8 24.8 27.7 28.5 31.2 32.1 34.4 35.6

texp is the experimental floor surface temperature and tcal is the calculated floor surface temperature.

Fig. 11. The floor construction in [7].

Fig. 10. The effect of Ku on the floor surface temperature.

20 mm, Ku is 15 W/(m2 K), the temperatures of air, walls and ceiling

are all 20 ◦ C, and the water temperature is 35 ◦ C. As shown in this
figure, the floor surface temperature decreases with the increase of
the heat transfer coefficient.
Fig. 12. The floor construction in [8].

4.3. The effect of Ku on the floor surface temperature

Fig. 10 shows the effect of the upper layer heat transfer con-
duction coefficient on the floor surface temperature when cooling.
The diameter of pipe is 20 mm, the temperatures of air, walls and
ceiling are all 26 ◦ C, the floor surface heat transfer coefficient is
6.4 W/(m2 K), and the water temperature is 17 ◦ C. As shown in this Fig. 13. The floor construction in [9].
figure, the surface temperature decreases with the increase of the
upper layer heat conduction coefficient. The same with l , the upper
layer heat conduction coefficient is greater, the effect on the floor 4.5. Comparison of the calculated values with the experimental
surface temperature is smaller. values by Ho [8]

Fig. 12 shows the floor construction in [8]. Table 2 shows the

4.4. Comparison of the calculated values with the experimental
values by Song [7]
Song [7] had studied the performance of the radiant floor heat-
ing/cooling system by changing the floor surface material and the
water temperature. Fig. 11 shows the floor construction in [7].
Table 1 shows the comparison of the calculated values obtained
by the proposed method with the experimental floor surface tem-
peratures in [7]. In the experiments, the temperatures of air, walls
and ceiling are all kept in 24 ◦ C. As shown in the table, the calcula-
tion results are close to the experimental results. The temperature
differences between the calculated values derived from the method
and the experimental values given by Song [7] are less than 2.5 ◦ C.
parameter values during experiments in [8] and the comparison
of the calculated values obtained by the proposed method with the
experimental floor surface temperatures. The average temperature
of supply and return water is used as the calculated water temper-
ature. As shown in the table, the temperature differences between
the experimental values and the calculation values are less than
2 ◦ C.
4.6. Comparison of the calculated values with the numerical
values by Holopainen et al. [9]
Fig. 13 shows the floor construction in [9]. Table 3 shows the
parameter values during simulation in [9] and the comparison of
1758 X. Jin et al. / Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1753–1758

Table 2
Comparison of the calculated values with the experimental values in [8].

Parameters

Supply water temperature (◦ C) Return water Room temperature (◦ C) Floor surface heat Experimental floor Calculated floor surface
temperature (◦ C) transfer coefficient surface temperature in temperature (◦ C)
(W/(m2 K)) [8] (◦ C)

First experiment (shutters open)

44.9 41.0 25.8 15.45 28.5 30.3

Second experiment (shutters closed)

45.7 41.5 28.4 24.26 30.3 31.2

Table 3
Comparison of the calculated value with the numerical value in [9].

Parameters

Supply water temperature (◦ C) Return water Room temperature (◦ C) Floor surface heat Numerical floor surface Calculated floor surface
temperature (◦ C) transfer coefficient temperature in [9] (◦ C) temperature (◦ C)
(W/(m2 K))

43 37 21 10.6 26.1 26.1

the calculated value obtained by the proposed method with the
numerical floor surface temperature. The average temperature of
supply and return water is used as the calculated water tempera-
ture. As shown in the table, the calculated value and the numerical
value are the same.
5. Conclusions
This study presents a method for calculating the floor surface
temperature in radiant floor heating/cooling system. A new formula
is derived to estimate the floor surface temperature. The method
assumes the floor is divided into two layers. Based on the numerical
model of the radiant floor system built in this paper, the correlation
of the thermal conductivity of the lower layer is developed. With
this method, the floor surface temperature can be obtained eas-
ily without solving the partial differential equations. The results
show that the floor surface temperature values derived from the
proposed method are in agreement with the experimental and
numerical values. The method is helpful to design the radiant floor
system and estimate the heating/cooling capacity of the system.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the 11th Five Year National
Science and Technology Support Key Project of China under the
Contract No. 2008BAJ12B02 and the Scientific Research Founda-
tion of Graduate School of Southeast University under the Contract
No. YBJJ0814.
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