- Author
-
Tietsma, G. J.
|
Peavy, B. A.
- Title
- Thermal Performance of a Two-Bedroom Mobile Home. Final Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
Dow Chemical Co., Midland, MI
- Sponsor
- Federal Energy Administration, Washington, DC
- Report
-
NBS BSS 102,
February 1978,
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161. Telephone: 1-800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000; Fax: 703-605-6900. Website: http://www.ntis.gov
- Keywords
-
mobile homes; thermal measurements; performance tests; thermal insulation; energy conservation; heat loss; seasonal variations; thermography; air flow; trailers; houses; thermal efficiency
|
thermal measurements
- Identifiers
- two bedroom homes; tracer gases
- Abstract
- Tests were conducted on a mobile home located in an Environmental Climatical Laboratory for the purpose of evaluating its thermal performance. The heating demand greatly affected the part-load efficiency of a gas-fired, forced-air, sealed-combustion furnace system. The practice of installing oversized heating plants was shown to result in low seasonal operating efficiencies. Air leakage measurements were performed using a pressurization technique to quantify the amount of air leakage through the various parts of the mobile home. Separate air infiltration tests using the SF6 tracer-gas technique showed that somewhat higher air infiltration rates were induced by operation of the mobile home heating plant. A thermographic survey of interior surfaces showed that the technique used to install the wall insulation may allow wrinkles formed in the surface of the insulation to form air paths running the height of the wall cavity. Convective air flow through these paths may create heat leaks on the building surface which can have an impact on the overall heat-loss rate. Separate tests were also conducted to identify places in the mobile home envelope having high condensation potential.