Parameters affecting air leakage in east Tennessee homes

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6620361

Gammage, R B; Hawthorne, A R; White, D A

A major pathway for loss of conditioned air in east Tennessee homes with externally located heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems is leakage in the ductwork. The average infiltration rate, as measured by Freon-12 tracer gas dilution, nearly doubles if the central duct fan is operating; duct-fan on and duct-fan off measurements of the rate of air exchange gave mean values of 0.78 and 0.44 h/sup -1/, respectively, in a total of 31 homes. Specific leakage areas measured by the blower-door, pressurization-depressurization technique are affected to a lesser extent by inclusion of the ductwork volume within the total volume of the house that is being pressurized; the average increment in the specific leakage area for a subset of 7 of the study homes is about 15%. For homes that have central HVAC systems, weatherization and energy conservation programs should be cognizant of the seriousness of air and energy losses that can be caused by leaking ductwork. 6 references, 2 tables.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA); Tennessee Univ., Knoxville (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6620361
• Report Number(s): CONF-840803-11; ON: DE84016606
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320101* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Residential Buildings-- (-1987)
AIR FLOW
AIR INFILTRATION
BUILDINGS
DATA
ENERGY SYSTEMS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FEDERAL REGION IV
FLUID FLOW
FREONS
GAS FLOW
HALOGENATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
HOUSES
INFORMATION
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
SPACE HVAC SYSTEMS
TENNESSEE
TRACER TECHNIQUES
USA
WEATHERIZATION