You are here:
IMPACT OF HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM OPERATION AND LEAKAGE ON VENTILATION AND INTERCOMPARTMENT TRANSPORT: STUDIES IN UNOCCUPIED AND OCCUPIED TENNESSEE VALLEY HOMES
Citation:
Matthews, T., D. Wilson, C. Thompson, K. Monar, AND C. Dudney. IMPACT OF HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM OPERATION AND LEAKAGE ON VENTILATION AND INTERCOMPARTMENT TRANSPORT: STUDIES IN UNOCCUPIED AND OCCUPIED TENNESSEE VALLEY HOMES. JOURNAL OF THE AIR & WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION 40(2):194-198, (1990).
Impact/Purpose:
Information.
Description:
Forced-air heating and air conditioning (HAC) systems caused an average and maximum increase in air infiltration rates of 1.8- and 4.3-fold, respectively, during brief whole-house studies of tracer gas decay In 39 occupied houses. An average Increase in air infiltration rate of 0.33 ± 0.37 h~1 corresponded to an Incremental air leak of 240 m3/h, based on approxi- mate house volume. More detailed tracer gas decay studies were performed in basement, kitchen and bedroom locations of six homes with low air infiltration rates (i.e., <0.25 h~1). The HAC mixed the indoor air efficiently between measurement sites. HAC operation also caused 1.1- to 3.6-fold increases in air infiltration rates, corresponding to absolute increases of 0.02 to 0.1 h~1. In an unoccupied research house, three-fold increases in average air infiltration rate with HAC operation (i.e., from 0.13 to 0.36 h 1) were reduced to two-fold (i.e., from 0.10 to 0.18 h~1) by sealing the external HAC unit and crawlspace ductwork system. This sealing also resulted in a 30 percent reduction in crawlspace-to-lndoor transport rates with the HAC turned on. Blower door tests indicated a <20 percent reduction in house leakage area.
URLs/Downloads:
IMPACT OF HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM OPERATION AND LEAKAGE ON VENTILATION AND INTERCOMPARTMENT TRANSPORT: STUDIES IN UNOCCUPIED AND OCCUPIED TENNESSEE VALLEY HOMES (PDF, NA pp, 1981 KB, about PDF)JOURNAL ACCESS
