A Differential-difference Approach for the Modeling of Electrical Floor Heating Systems

Abstract

During recent years, many papers have been published concerning dimensioning, analysis, and control of floor heating. A central issue in all these activities is to create a suitable model, which explains the thermal behavior of the floor and its environment. The article introduces a differential-difference approach, which is believed to be new in floor heating modeling. The proposed method is applied in a slab, a semi-infinite and infinite solid, which are connected to electrical heating. The results are compared with the corresponding analytical solution. This also concerns the proportional heating control applied in the infinite solid. The comparison reveals the characteristic features of the differential-difference solution, which are briefly discussed. The first results are encouraging and show good model behavior.