- Author
- Burch, D. M. | Krintz, D. F. | Spain, R. S.
- Title
- Effect of Wall Mass on the Winter Heating Loads and Indoor Comfort: An Experimental Study.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc., Atlanta, GA
- Journal
- ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 90, No. Part 1B, 94-121, 1984
- Book or Conf
- Proceedings of 1984 Winter Meeting of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. January 29-February 1, 1984, Atlanta, GA, 1984
- Keywords
- residential buildings; walls; model tests; comfort
- Identifiers
- energy conservation; energy consumption; heating load
- Abstract
- Six test buildings were extensively instrumented for measuring heating loads and indoor comfort. These test buildings were exposed to a winter heating season and an intermediate heating season. During the winter season, when some space heating was supplied each hour of test, measured heating loads were predicted with a steady-state heat-transfer model which did not include the effect of thermal mass. The indoor comfort was not affected by wall mass. During the intermediate heating season, when the indoor temperatures floated above the thermostat set temperatures during warm day periods, a significant thermal mass effect was observed. Heavyweight buildings were observed to consume less heating energy than comparable lightweight buildings having equivalent wall thermal resistance. The effect was greater when wall mass was positioned inside as opposed to outside wall insulation. Wall mass was observed to reduce considerably overheating during warm day periods, and thereby produce more comfortable indoor conditions.