Dust and ventilation effects on radiant barriers: Cooling season energy measurements
Abstract
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. Total house cooling load increases amounted to 2.3 and 8.4% compared to house loads with clean horizontal barriers, respectively. When compared to R-19 with no horizontal radiant barrier conditions, the dusted horizontal radiant barriers reduced cooling loads by about 7%. Testing showed that increasing the attic ventilation area ratio from the minimum recommended of 1/300 to 1/150 had little if any effect on the house cooling load with either truss or horizontal barriers present in the attics. Radiant barriers, however, still reduced the house cooling load. There was essentially no difference in house cooling load reduction between either ridge/soffit ormore »
- Authors:
-
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
- Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN (USA)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (USA); Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- DOE/CE; EPRI; TVA
- OSTI Identifier:
- 6927326
- Report Number(s):
- EPRI-CU-6817
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- Resource Type:
- Technical Report
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; THERMAL BARRIERS; FIELD TESTS; ATTICS; FIBERGLASS; HEAT TRANSFER; PERFORMANCE; RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS; THERMAL INSULATION; VENTILATION; BUILDINGS; ENERGY TRANSFER; TESTING; 320107* - Energy Conservation, Consumption, & Utilization- Building Systems- (1987-)
Citation Formats
Levins, W P, Karnitz, M A, and Hall, J A. Dust and ventilation effects on radiant barriers: Cooling season energy measurements. United States: N. p., 1990.
Web.
Levins, W P, Karnitz, M A, & Hall, J A. Dust and ventilation effects on radiant barriers: Cooling season energy measurements. United States.
Levins, W P, Karnitz, M A, and Hall, J A. Tue .
"Dust and ventilation effects on radiant barriers: Cooling season energy measurements". United States.
@article{osti_6927326,
title = {Dust and ventilation effects on radiant barriers: Cooling season energy measurements},
author = {Levins, W P and Karnitz, M A and Hall, J A},
abstractNote = {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. Total house cooling load increases amounted to 2.3 and 8.4% compared to house loads with clean horizontal barriers, respectively. When compared to R-19 with no horizontal radiant barrier conditions, the dusted horizontal radiant barriers reduced cooling loads by about 7%. Testing showed that increasing the attic ventilation area ratio from the minimum recommended of 1/300 to 1/150 had little if any effect on the house cooling load with either truss or horizontal barriers present in the attics. Radiant barriers, however, still reduced the house cooling load. There was essentially no difference in house cooling load reduction between either ridge/soffit or gable/soffit vent type with a truss radiant barrier, as both reduced cooling loads by about 8% when compared to no radiant barrier conditions. The attic-ventilation-type testing was done with a ventilation area ratio of 1/150.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6927326},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {1990},
month = {5}
}