Investigation of a model predictive controller for use in a highly glazed house with hydronic floor heating and cooling

Presented are the results of an investigation into a model predictive controller (MPC) for hydronic floor heating and cooling in a highly glazed house in Ottawa, Canada. The goal of this investigation was to determine if a MPC would simultaneously result in reduced energy consumption and reduced indoor air temperature (Tia) violations in comparison to the incumbent reactive controller (RC). Shown both experimentally and via simulation, predictive control results in more hours with Tia between the acceptable limits (19.5–25 °C) for significantly less heating and cooling system operation hours. Experimentally, a “pseudo-predictive controller” (PPC) required 35% less cooling hours and 50% less heating hours than the RC baseline. The PPC also reduced overheating time by 88%. A simple MPC was then designed and compared to a RC using a MATLAB simulation. Even with a simple and non-optimized MPC, the simulation confirmed the superiority of said MPC over RC operation for the hydronic floor system. The simulated MPC required 28% less cooling hours and 27% less heating hours than the simulated RC. These results have confirmed the suspected promise of predictive control and next steps include actual implementation of the presented MPC in the highly glazed house long-term.