Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Retrofitting a residence for solar heating and cooling: the design and construction of the system

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7294579

During 1972 and 1973, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) conducted controlled laboratory tests on a factory-built four-bedroom house having a floor area of 110 square meters (1200 square feet) equipped with a conventional gas furnace and central electric air conditioner incorporated into a forced air distribution system. During 1974, the house was moved onto the NBS grounds and a solar heating and cooling system was designed to be added to the house. Calculations have been made to show that more than 75% of the yearly energy needs for heating, cooling, and supplying domestic hot water could be obtained from the sun. This report deals with the design and construction of the retrofitted system. It consists of 45 square meters (485 square feet) of double-glazed, flat-plate solar collector, 5.7 cubic meters (1500 gallons) of water storage, and a 10,000 W (3 ton) lithium bromide absorption air cooling unit. (59 references) (auth)

Research Organization:
National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C. (USA); U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards, Institute for Applied Technology, Center for Building Technology, Washington, DC 20234
OSTI ID:
7294579
Report Number(s):
NBS-TN-892
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English