Radiant heating utilizing conductive concrete tiles

Conductive concrete tiles of thickness 20-mm were subjected to electrical Joule heating tests. The average temperature increased by 51.62 K in 60 min under 36-V AC (alternating current) power. These tiles were subsequently utilized to build an indoor radiant heating system. Electrical heating tests under different conditions in a room, with the window open or closed, were performed. The results show that the floor tiles are effective for radiant heating. The temperature at the center of the room increased by 4.5 K in approximately 10 min. The energy consumption in 24 h is 0.775 kW-h/m2 in a thermally insulated room, corresponding to an average power density of 32 W/m2. This energy consumption is lower than that of typical radiant floor systems with embedded heating cables. A computer model of the room with the heating system is developed to simulate the radiant heating process. The numerical results compare favorably with the test data.