A novel self-driven radiator was developed to serve as the indoor terminal of an air-source heat pump system to improve the indoor comfort level and energy efficiency for space heating. By analyzing the operating characteristics of the most important system components

a thermodynamic gray-box model was established for the system

and its reliability was verified. On this basis

the coupling characteristics of the self-driven radiator and air-source heat pump were studied. Furthermore

the hourly operation and annual performance of the system in a typical building were analyzed using EES and TRNSYS. It was found that the system performance was affected by several factors and was more sensitive to changes in the compressor operating frequency. The system had a fast thermal response

which facilitated a stable indoor temperature environment. Under the typical meteorological conditions of Taiyuan

the annual coefficient of performance of the system was 2.67. The coefficient of performance under typical conditions was found to be 50.28% higher than that of the conventional radiator system

demonstrating evident energy-saving benefits.