Effect smart solutions for district heating networks based on energy storage in buildings. Impact on indoor temperatures

Paper in proceeding, 2015

Power demands for heating of buildings vary a lot over the day and between seasons. These variations cause uneven supply of heat in district heating networks, which is both inefficient and costly. The buildings that are connected to the district heating system can be potentially utilized as auxiliary thermal storages to smooth out the variations in the heat supply demand. Since these effects can be achieved at the expense of thermal comfort in buildings, reliable planning tools are needed. This work presents a handy analytical model of a building connected to the district heating that can be used to estimate both the reduction of heating power demand and the discomfort that follows. The analytical analysis that gives straight forward results for a tentative building is complemented with a numerical analysis for cases with extra constraints. The analyses show promising results for this technique.