Preliminary analysis of the potential energy saving achievable with a predictive control strategy of a heat pump for a single family house

Abstract: The present work reports a study related to the potential improvement of the energy performances of a heat pump based heating system for a Swedish single-family house. The analysis is focused on the design of new rule-based control strategies which employ perfect predictions of weather forecast and human behaviour information. In particular, the considered signals are the outdoor temperature, the solar radiation, the internal gain due to inhabitants’ activities and the Domestic Hot Water (DHW) consumption. The study is performed by means of the TRNSYS® simulation software in which the model of the heating system is implemented. More specifically, it is composed by a Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) unit, a stratified storage tank of three hundred litres and the building element. The performances of the developed control logics are evaluated using a degree-minute on/off controller as reference case. The results show that the improved control logics yield to an increase of the energy efficiency of the system as well as an enhancement of the indoor and DHW temperatures stability.