- Surface heating systems are standard in new buildings and are also frequently installed when renovating existing buildings. In insufficiently insulated buildings in particular, however, this can lead to a high level of radiation asymmetry, which can have a negative effect on thermal comfort. The extent of this influence has not yet been sufficiently researched and the standard approaches to thermal comfort do not adequately consider this situation. As part of the investigations presented here, different assessment models for thermal comfort are presented and their suitability is evaluated, particularly with regard to scenarios with radiation asymmetry. The assessment is based on experimental measurements and thermal comfort simulations for heating with small heating panels as well as a radiator heating system. Furthermore, the suitability of the comfort models for different heating methods is examined and compared. Thermal comfort is determined both globally and locally and the suitability of the models is analysed. The results show large deviations between different comfort models. Furthermore, the results show that to account for the effect of asymmetric radiation it is necessary to consider comfort at both the local and global level.
