The impact of underfloor heating in a historical church: a case study

Abstract

The aim of this project is to study the thermal conditions of a fairly typical elderly Romanian stone church, by creating its appropriate model, using a CFD modelling program. At the beginning and for many years, there was not any heating system in these buildings so the indoor environment was basically defined by the outdoor conditions. Wide walls, small windows, the huge indoor air volume and the restricted natural ventilation, caused the indoor climate to be more invariable compared to the outdoor climate. As a result of large heat and moisture capacity of indoor air, conditions were very different inside and outside the building. During summer, indoor conditions were colder than outdoors but during winter indoor air climate was warmer. Concluding, it is difficult to design a heating system for a church, since it has to compensate the thermal comfort and energy needs while it is respectful with preservation and aesthetics.