Optimization and Integrated Approaches of Traditional Heating Methods of Cold Rural Areas in China
Abstract
In rural areas of Northern China, some traditional heating methods, such as Chinese Kang, smoke heated wall, burning cave, biomass-burning radiator, are still used in winter. The central heating methods are not available in the area due to the scattered locations of the houses. Some of the houses are constructed based solely on craftsman’s experience. As a result, the indoor heat distribution is uneven in cold winter, and there exists comparatively large temperature differences between rooms in one house. Some other problems include the falling leather of the damp walls and icing of the window pane, as shown in Fig.1 (a) and Fig.1 (b). Poor families that make stove with Kang in one room face safety concerns as well as serious indoor quality problems, shown in Fig.1(c). Although the thermal environment has noticeable improvements after practical advancement of the heating technologies, from the stand point of total energy consumption of one building, the integrative energy utilization of the new technology is inefficient. Therefore, the optimization and integrated approaches of traditional heating methods are important part of this study.