Abstract
Opening windows is a common method for controlling air temperature, moisture, air quality and odours in dwellings. Opening a window in winter will increase the heat loss from a house, the additional heat loss will depend on the size of the window opening and the length of time for which the window is open. However, window opening behaviour is unpredictable, varying widely between different dwellings and occupants making it difficult to incorporate into predictions of energy consumption. This paper reports the results of an investigation to quantify the impact of window opening on the measured airtightness and total heat loss in a detached, timber framed test house built in the year 2000 to contemporary building standards, and located at Loughborough University. Blower door tests were used to measure the increase in ventilation caused by opening windows. The additional heat loss due to this ventilation was predicted using a simple model and then compared to the whole house heat loss as measured by a co-heating test. A linear relationship between window opening area and additional ventilation was found, independent of window location. This relationship was used to quantify the additional heat loss for a variety of window opening behaviours. The results show that window opening does not significantly increase heat loss rates in this particular house for all but the most extreme window opening behaviours. The implications of these results for different types of dwelling are discussed.
Jack, R., Loveday , D., Allinson, D. and Lomas, K. (2015) Quantifing the effect of window opening on the measured heat loss of a test house. In; Gorse, C and Dastbaz, M (Eds.) International SEEDS Conference, 17–18 September 2015, Leeds Beckett University UK, Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society.
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Abbreviations
- Air permeability envelope area:
-
For air permeability testing, this includes the area of all perimeter walls, the roof of the highest storey included in the test and floor of the lowest storey. The volume of the dwelling is contained within these boundaries (ATTMA 2010).
- HLC:
-
Heat Loss Coefficient , a measure of the rate of heat loss from a dwelling measured in Watts/Kelvin.
- In-use:
-
A term used to describe a dwelling which is occupied.
- n50:
-
Is a measure of airtightness ; it is the proportion of the air contents of the house that is replaced per hour at a pressure difference of 50Â Pa. It is calculated by dividing the air leakage rate at a pressure difference of 50Â Pa by the building volume and has units of 1/h, sometimes also written as ACH/h (air changes/hour) (ATTMA 2010).
- q50:
-
Another common measure of airtightness; the air leakage rate at a pressure difference of 50Â Pa is divided by the envelope surface area of the building, with units of m3/hm2 (surface area). This is the metric used in UK building regulations (ATTMA 2010).
- SAP:
-
The UK Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure for Energy Rating of Dwellings, which is the standard method used in the UK to predict thermal performance and energy consumption of domestic buildings. There is also a Reduced Data Standard Assessment Procedure (RdSAP), which is used for existing dwellings.
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Acknowledgements
This research was made possible by EPSRC support for the London-Loughborough Centre for Doctoral Research in Energy Demand; grant number EP/H009612/1. Measurements from the Loughborough University weather station were kindly provided by Dr Richard Hodgkins of the Department of Geography.
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Jack, R., Loveday, D., Allinson, D., Lomas, K. (2016). Quantifying the Effect of Window Opening on the Measured Heat Loss of a Test House. In: Dastbaz, M., Gorse, C. (eds) Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32646-7_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32646-7_13
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