A system for supplying hot water to a floor of a building having a plurality of floors is disclosed. The system includes a hot water vessel operable to supply hot water for use in the floor of the building, the hot water vessel having an inlet for receiving cold water and a heating coil for transferring heat to water within the hot water vessel. The system also includes a heat exchanger having an outlet in liquid communication with the inlet of the hot water vessel, the heat exchanger being operable to collect stagnant heat within the floor and to preheat cold water flowing through the heat exchanger for delivery to the inlet of the hot water vessel. A hot water supply system for a plurality of apartments in a multi-story building having at least one exterior solar-facing wall exposed to solar radiation and a fire sprinkler supply system for a building are also disclosed.

Systems and methods for a thermosyphonic water heating system for a storage tank. A DC heat pump receives power from a DC power source and heats water via a heat exchanger using a thermosyphonic piping system. A passive back-flushing having a cold water inlet pipe connected to the hot water return pipe draws cold water into the storage tank through the heat exchanger. A vertical array of temperature sensors distributed throughout the storage tank monitor temperature of stored water at multiple heights and a communication unit communicates monitored data to an external control device.

A hot water heating system is provided with: a hot water heating device; a heating terminal; a heat circulation circuit; a circulation means; and an expansion-absorbing means. The hot water heating device is provided with: a heating passage; a heating means for heating a heat medium inside the heating passage; a pressure detection means; a supply passage connected to the heating passage; an opening/closing means for the supply passage; and a control means which opens the opening/closing means to supply the heat medium when the internal pressure of the heating passage is less than a reference value. The control means determines that the positional relationship between the circulation means and the expansion-absorbing means is inappropriate when the pressure detected by the pressure detection means at the moment the circulation means starts to be driven is lower than the pressure detected prior to driving the circulation means.

Methods and functional elements for enhanced thermal management of predominantly enclosed spaces to enable the construction of buildings with reduced power requirements for heating and/or air-conditioning systems. The methods may be in part based on dynamically changing functional elements with variable properties, or effective properties, in terms of their electromagnetic radiative behavior and/or their thermal energy storage properties, or the spatial distribution of the stored thermal energy, which permits the application of methods to control the overall thermal behavior of the entire structure in such a way that desired levels of inside temperature can be reached with reduced consumption of external energy (typically electricity, gas, oil, or coal). In some instances no conventional heating of cooling is required at all. In some instances the invention reduces the time to reach desired temperatures inside such buildings, habitats, or other predominantly enclosed spaces.

A heating and hot water supplying device includes: a circulation passage that connects a heat exchanger and an external heating terminal; a bypass passage that bypasses the heating terminal by branching from the circulation passage; a hot water supply passage for supplying the hot water heated to a preset hot water supply temperature by the heat exchanger for hot water supply; a control unit that controls operations in which this plurality of units are used; and an operation terminal for performing various operations. A distribution valve is provided in the branching portion of the bypass passage. The distribution valve adjusts the distribution ratio so that each of a heating operation, a hot water supplying operation, and a simultaneous heating and hot water supplying operation is possible. The operation terminal is provided with a prohibit switch to prohibit the simultaneous heating and hot water supplying operation.

In a joint water boiler-air/air heat pump air conditioning system coupled to a photovoltaic system and intended to air condition a closed environment formed by one or more rooms and comprising an electrical system to which electrical appliances are connected, an electronic control system is programmed to compute electrical power production of the photovoltaic system and electrical power consumption of the electrical appliances in the closed environment, and, based thereon, a surplus electrical power production of the photovoltaic system with respect to the electrical power consumption of the electrical appliances in the closed environment. If a surplus of electrical power production of the photovoltaic system is determined to exist with respect to the electrical power consumption of the electrical appliances in the closed environment, it may be determined how many indoor units of the hot/cold air/air heat pump system can be electrically supplied simultaneously with the electrical power surplus.

Disclosed is a building envelope for a building wall, floor, or roof of a building, the building envelope comprising at least two shells spaced apart from one another that enclose an intermediate space there between, the intermediate space being sealed against the interior and the exterior of the building and being filled with structural weight-bearing and building-technology components, and at least in sections with a porous, open-celled 3D-pattern material. A plurality of heat pipes which are connected to a heat-collector element on the shell facing the exterior and the interior of the building and which end in the intermediate space are arranged in the intermediate space.

A heating and hot water supply system includes: a combustion means; a heat exchanger; a heating terminal; a circulation passage that connects the heat exchanger and the heating terminal; a circulation means; a bypass passage branched from the circulation passage and bypassing the heating terminal; a distribution means for distributing a heating medium to the circulation passage and the bypass passage; a hot water supply heat exchanger for the bypass passage; and a hot water supply passage; wherein the distribution means can adjust the distribution ratio so as to correspond to a heating operation, a hot water supply operation, and a simultaneous heating and hot water supply operation, and when the distribution ratio on the circulation passage side of the distribution means is smaller than a prescribed value during the simultaneous heating and hot water supply operation, the blowing operation of the blower at the heating terminal is prohibited.

Provided is a heating and hot water supply device The heating and hot water supply device includes: a combustion part; a heat exchanger; a circulation passage; a circulation part; a bypass passage; a distribution means for distributing the heating medium to the circulation passage and the bypass passage; a hot water supply heat exchanger; a water supply passage; and a hot water supply passage (21) The distribution ratio of the distribution means is adjustable so as to correspond to a heating operation, a hot water supply operation, and the simultaneous heating and hot water supply operation. The heating and hot water supply device includes an operation part, which heats the heating medium to one or more heating terminal setting temperatures and circulates the heating medium, and switches a setting of the one or more heating terminal setting temperatures to be increased by a prescribed temperature during the simultaneous heating and hot water supply operation.

A pump (2) system includes a pump, a sensor (22; 28) arranged in or at a flow path (14), and a concentration measurement device measuring a concentration in liquid inside the flow path (14). The concentration measurement device includes the sensor (22; 28), as a concentration sensor, connected to an evaluation device (26) for evaluating readings of the sensor (22; 28). The evaluation device (26) is connected to a further signal source (20; 24), providing at least one further parameter, and is configured to carry out an evaluation of the reading of the sensor (22; 28), taking into account the further parameter provided by the further signal source (20, 24) to output the concentration in the liquid. A solar heating system includes the pump system.