Crawl space-assisted heat pump

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5133353· OSTI ID:5133353

Ternes, M. P.

A variety of experiments and simulations have been performed or are being prepared to determine the feasibility of conditioning the source air of an air-to-air heat pump using stored ground heat or cool to produce higher seasonal COP's and net energy savings. Winter data has shown that significant preheating occurs consistently for both the single-pass and total-recycle modes, with the latter showing the better results between the two. Preliminary summer data shows that precooling does occur, but that the heat pump system should be operated in the single-pass mode only. Comparison between experiments has led to the conclusion that the preconditioning is due mostly to the stored earth heat or cool and is not due in any great part to heat exchange with the house. A computer model of the crawl space has been developed, and the development of heat pump models for performance and economic studies is currently underway. Complete data analysis will begin as actual data in digitized form becomes available. Planning for a definitive test addressing the concept's performance and economics has begun.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 5133353
• Report Number(s): DOE/TIC-11284
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320100* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Buildings
AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMPS
BUILDINGS
COOLING
DATA
ENERGY CONSERVATION
ENERGY STORAGE
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HEAT PUMPS
HEAT STORAGE
HEATING
HOUSES
INFORMATION
NUMERICAL DATA
PERFORMANCE
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
SOILS
SPACE HEATING
STORAGE