Heat transfer characteristics of a novel sleeping bed with an integrated hot water heating system

This study investigates a novel and simple design for a sleeping bed with an integral hot water heating system that can satisfy the varying thermal comfort requirements of the occupants of a bedroom throughout the day. The design of heating system is presented. A mathematical model is established by analyzing the heat transfer mechanisms of the system. Experiments are conducted to determine the heat transfer of the various parts of the bed when heat source is active and inactive. Numerical simulations are performed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate the heat transfer at various operating conditions to provide a reference for the design of the bed. The differences in the results obtained using CFD and experiments are analyzed for a selected operating condition.