Industry in Focus, Module Energy Intensive Industries

Vincent de Gooyert, Radboud University, 2023

Assignment 2: A thermostat

Meadows (2008, p. 36) uses a thermostat as an example to investigate what happens if there are two
balancing loops trying to drag a single stock toward two different goals. In this assignment we will
replicate this thermostat model in Vensim and explore its behavior.

1. Start with opening Vensim. Set up a new model that runs for 8 hours with a time step (dt) of 0.25
hours.

2. Start with replicating the stock-flow structure given in the figure below.

Adjustment Time heat

from furnace
Heat from furnace
Room
temperature

Thermostat
B
setting

Discrepancy between
desired and actual room
temperatures

3. Now add the following equations to this stock-flow structure:

Adjustment time heat from furnace = 1

Units: Hour

Discrepancy between desired and actual room temperatures = Thermostat setting - Room temperature
Units: °C

Heat from furnace = MAX(Discrepancy between desired and actual room temperatures / Adjustment
Time heat from furnace , 0)
Units: °C/Hour

Room temperature = INTEG (Heat from furnace , 10)

Units: °C

Thermostat setting = 18
Units: °C
4. Run the model and explain the behavior of room temperature.
 Industry in Focus, Module Energy Intensive Industries
Vincent de Gooyert, Radboud University, 2023

5. Please now explore what would happen if you change the thermostat setting to 5 degrees in the
model:

5.1. Predict first how the behavior of the room temperature would change prior to making the
change in the model.
5.2. Make a graph with the results of the model for room temperature for both a thermostat setting
of 18 °C and 5 °C.
5.3. Explain why the room temperature behaves differently for a thermostat setting of 18 °C
compared to a thermostat setting of 5 °C.

6. Please extend the stock-flow structure in order to include the interaction between room and outside
temperature. Extend the stock-flow structure as given in the following figure:

Adjustment time heat Adjustment time

from furnace heat to outside

Heat from furnace Heat to outside

Room
temperature

Thermostat Outside
B B
setting temperature

Discrepancy between Discrepancy between

desired and actual room inside and outside
temperatures temperatures

7. Now change/add the following equations to incorporate this extended stock-flow structure:

Adjustment time heat to outside = 10

Units: Hour

Discrepancy between inside and outside temperatures = Room temperature - Outside temperature
Units: °C

Heat to outside = Discrepancy between inside and outside temperatures /Adjustment time heat to
outside
Units: °C/Hour

Outside temperature = 10
Units: °C

Room temperature = INTEG (Heat from furnace-Heat to outside, 10)

Units: °C
 Industry in Focus, Module Energy Intensive Industries
Vincent de Gooyert, Radboud University, 2023

8. Run the model and explain the behavior of the room temperature.

9. How can we reach a desired room temperature of 18°C in this model? Please explain.

10. Please now extend the simulation time to 24 hours and make the behavior of the outside
temperature a bit more realistic. The figure below provides a graph of the outside temperature for
a winter day in Nijmegen. The table below provides the exact temperature for each hour during
that day. Incorporate this information into the model using a LOOKUP function (hint: you might
need to explore the Vensim users guide for the use of a LOOKUP function).

Hour Temperature
20 in °C
Outside temperature over 24-hour cycle 0 10
15 1 10
Temperature °C

2 10
10 3 9.5
4 8.5
5
5 6.7
6 4.5
0
7 1.5
-5 8 -1.5
0 6 12 18 24 9 -3
10 -4.5
11 -5
12 -5
13 -5
14 -4.5
15 -3
16 -1.5
17 1.5
18 4.5
19 6.7
20 8.5
21 9.5
22 10
23 10
24 10

11. Run the model and explain the behavior of room temperature.

12. Finally, let us assess how robust the room temperature is for leakages from the room. Change the
time it requires to adjust the room temperature to the outside temperature to 5 hours instead of
 Industry in Focus, Module Energy Intensive Industries
Vincent de Gooyert, Radboud University, 2023

10 hours. Have also a look at when you change it to 2 hours. How robust is the room temperature
to the leakiness of the room?