Volume 5: Innovative Solutions for Energy Transitions: Part IV

Economic Aspect of Hybrid Heating and Cooling Systems in a Residential Building Francesco Dall’Orto, Nathan Zimmerman, Amir Vadiee, Konstantinos Kyprianidis

Abstract

District heating is a well-established technology; however, the use of individual heat pumps has been expanding and is now the main competitor to district heating. The prices for both electricity and district heating often vary over time because of the variation of raw material prices in the marketplace. Consequently, for the building owner it would be cost effective if they had the possibility to integrate both district heating and heat pumps. Aiding in the flexibility to switch between the two systems in order to choose the one with the lowest operating cost throughout the year. In the presented work, the modeling and control of a detached house integrated with both district heating and a heat pump are developed. The operating costs of both systems are computed considering the marketplace prices and the coefficient of performance of the heat pump, related to the external temperature. The results show that heat pumps can be well exploited during the spring and fall to cover base loads, and in the summer can be used for ambient cooling.

Keywords dynamic modeling, control, district heating and cooling system, heat pump, financial analysis