Centrally heated apartment buildings often suffer from variations in room temperatures due to inefficient and unbalanced heating systems. This can lead to unhappy residents complaining about lack of comfort or high energy bills.
Swedish cooperative organization HSB aimed to use an intelligent monitoring and control solution to improve the energy efficiency and indoor comfort of a 12-apartment block that is connected to district heating.
At the beginning of 2021, Leanheat® Building—a cloud-based AI solution—was integrated into the building’s existing substation controller, without the need for any extra hardware.
Leanheat® Building software monitors and controls the site remotely. It gathers accurate data that allows HSB to enhance property management, automate the heating system, and analyze performance. Leanheat® Building software optimized the heating system and reduced energy consumption by 10.9% between November 2021 and April 2022. The total amount of energy saved was 11,136 kWh.
At the end of the 2021 heating season, Leanheat® Building data analysis showed that the building had a combination of temperature imbalance and a higher setpoint, which indicated greater energy savings could be made.
In its current state, the two-pipe heating system had static balancing valves on the branches and old Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs) on all radiators. Danfoss ASV-PV return-pipe mounted differential pressure control valves and ASV-BD partner valves were installed to control the differential pressure over the branches. Danfoss RA-N valves were installed on each radiator and were pre-set using the ‘Optimal 2 tool’ to ensure optimum distribution of the water in the heating system. RA-2000 thermostats were also installed on each radiator to enable residents to maintain desired room temperatures and lower energy consumption. Together these components created a dynamic, well-balanced system that eliminated noise and reduced the energy consumption by another 10.2%.
HSB now has a fully optimized, energy efficient heating system that can be monitored remotely, saves money, and keeps apartments at a comfortable temperature.
“The project to replace the balancing valves and thermostatic radiator valves and sensors went beyond expectations and without major disturbances. We are able to keep a stable temperature between 20˚C to 21˚C in all apartments.”
Patrik Granholm,
Project Leader at HSB
The total savings established by the combination of Leanheat® Building and Dynamic Hydronic Balancing & Control reach around 20%.
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Find Danfoss' range of mechanical radiator thermostats, leveraging 80 years of experience to offer superior temperature precision and control.
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ASV automatic balancing valves provide a dynamic balancing solution for two-pipe heating or cooling applications. The riser-mounted valves eliminate pressure fluctuations occurring in variable flow systems at partial load conditions. For a proper hydronic balance the valves should be combined with pre-setting valves.
