Measured effects of dust on the performance of radiant barriers installed on top of attic insulation

Title: Measured effects of dust on the performance of radiant barriers installed on top of attic insulation

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Abstract

The rate of dust accumulation and the effect of this dust accumulation on a horizontal radiant barrier (HRB) are of special interest because the HRB may perform better in both summer and winter than a truss radiant barrier (TRB), is much easier to install for retrofits in existing homes, and requires less radiant barrier (RB) material than a TRB. However, an HRB has two important potential disadvantages-condensation during winter, which might cause structural damage, and dust accumulation which could significantly degrade thermal performance. Results of a winter moisture field test were reported previously by the authors of this paper. Dusted HRB performance was tested in small 48 ft{sub 2} test cells in the summer of 1987. The dust loadings, resultant HRB emissivity and relative attic heat fluxes are presented. The results indicate that dust accumulation may not be a prohibitive problem for HRB installations. However, the researchers believed further study of this subject was needed. A national laboratory conducted tests on dusted HRBs at three research houses near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, during the summer of 1988. Results showed that the lighter dust loading increased total house cooling loads, compared to a clean HRB, by 2.3%. The heavier dust loading increasedmore »« less

Authors:

Levins, W P ^[1]; Hall, J A ^[2]

Oak Ridge National Lab., Oak Ridge, TN (US)
Tennessee Valley Authority, Chattanooga, TN (US)

Publication Date:: 1990-01-01

OSTI Identifier:: 5162138

Report Number(s):: CONF-9006117-
Journal ID: ISSN 0001-2505; CODEN: ASHTA

Resource Type:: Conference

Journal Name:: ASHRAE Transactions (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers); (United States)

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 96:2; Conference: Annual meeting of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), St. Louis, MO (United States), 9-13 Jun 1990; Journal ID: ISSN 0001-2505

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; DUSTS; THERMAL ANALYSIS; THERMAL BARRIERS; PERFORMANCE TESTING; ATTICS; HOUSES; RETROFITTING; THERMAL INSULATION; BUILDINGS; RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS; TESTING; 320107* - Energy Conservation, Consumption, & Utilization- Building Systems- (1987-)

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                    Levins, W P, and Hall, J A. Measured effects of dust on the performance of radiant barriers installed on top of attic insulation.  United States: N. p., 1990. 
        Web.

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                    Levins, W P, & Hall, J A. Measured effects of dust on the performance of radiant barriers installed on top of attic insulation.  United States.

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                    Levins, W P, and Hall, J A. Mon .  
        "Measured effects of dust on the performance of radiant barriers installed on top of attic insulation".  United States.

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@article{osti_5162138,

  title        = {Measured effects of dust on the performance of radiant barriers installed on top of attic insulation},

  author       = {Levins, W P and Hall, J A},

  abstractNote = {The rate of dust accumulation and the effect of this dust accumulation on a horizontal radiant barrier (HRB) are of special interest because the HRB may perform better in both summer and winter than a truss radiant barrier (TRB), is much easier to install for retrofits in existing homes, and requires less radiant barrier (RB) material than a TRB. However, an HRB has two important potential disadvantages-condensation during winter, which might cause structural damage, and dust accumulation which could significantly degrade thermal performance. Results of a winter moisture field test were reported previously by the authors of this paper. Dusted HRB performance was tested in small 48 ft{sub 2} test cells in the summer of 1987. The dust loadings, resultant HRB emissivity and relative attic heat fluxes are presented. The results indicate that dust accumulation may not be a prohibitive problem for HRB installations. However, the researchers believed further study of this subject was needed. A national laboratory conducted tests on dusted HRBs at three research houses near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, during the summer of 1988. Results showed that the lighter dust loading increased total house cooling loads, compared to a clean HRB, by 2.3%. The heavier dust loading increased house cooling loads by 8.4%, again compared to a clean HRB. However, horizontal radiant barriers with these dust loadings still decreased house cooling loads by 7% when compared to the same house with no radiant barrier.},

  doi          = {},

  url          = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5162138},
  journal      = {ASHRAE Transactions (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers); (United States)},

  issn         = {0001-2505},

  number       = ,

  volume       = 96:2,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {1990},

  month        = {1}

}

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Measured effects of dust on the performance of radiant barriers installed on top of attic insulation

Conference Levins, W P ; Hall, J A

The rate of dust accumulation and the effect of this dust accumulation on a horizontal radiant barrier (HRB) is of special interest because a HRB may perform better in both summer and winter than a truss radiant barrier (TRB), a HRB is much easier to install for retrofits in existing homes, and a HRB requires less radiant barrier (RB) material than a TRB. However, a HRB has two important potential disadvantages -- condensation during winter which might cause structural damage and dust accumulation which could significantly degrade thermal performance. Results of a winter moisture field test have been reported previouslymore »« less
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Energy measurements of attic radiant barriers installed in single-family houses

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Cooling season tests were conducted in three unoccupied ranch-style houses in Karns, Tennessee, to determine the effects on attic radiant barrier performance incurred by changes in attic ventilation area ratio, attic ventilation type, and the buildup of dust on horizontal radiant barriers. All three houses had R-19 fiberglass batt insulation in their attics. Horizontal radiant barriers were artificially dusted and the dusted barriers showed measurable performance degradations, although the dusted barriers were still superior to no radiant barriers. Dust loadings of 0.34 and 0.74 mg/cm{sup 2} reduced a clean radiant barrier surface emissivity of 0.055 to 0.125 and 0.185, respectively.more »« less

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