Dynamic analysis of a thermoelectric heating system for space heating in a continuous-occupancy office room

Abstract The present study focuses on the theoretical analysis of a thermoelectric heating system (THS) coupled with an office room situated in Fez (Morocco). The office room under study belongs to an autonomous agency and stands for 24 h a day, 7 days a week as a readiness service. A mathematical model of temperature dependent material properties is proposed for the analysis and simulations are carried out to optimize the system performance. The periods of the year examined are January 13–14 for the case of high heating demand, March 11–12 for the case of medium heating and October 26–27 for the case of low heating demand. The annual heating load of the office room is found to be 325.70 kW h/year. The maximum hourly heating demand of the year is predicted in January (390.57 W) and to meet this demand hot air must be supplied at a temperature of 37.8 °C. The analysis shows that the optimal number of thermoelectric modules required to achieve the maximum coefficient of performance of 2.0 is 12 modules. The studied THS can help in reducing up to 64% of energy use in the office room as compared to the conventional electric heater.