NREL Provides Guidance to Improve Air Mixing and Thermal Comfort in Homes (Fact Sheet)

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S.)

关键词: Buildings;    Residential Buildings;    Hvac Systems;    32 Energy Conservation, Consumption, And Utilization;    Nrel Highlight;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1036349
RP-ID  :  NREL/FS-5500-54095
RP-ID  :  AC36-08GO28308
RP-ID  :  1036349

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

NREL research determines optimal HVAC system design for proper air mixing and thermal comfort in homes. As U.S. homes become more energy efficient, heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) systems will be downsized, and the air flow volumes required to meet heating and cooling loads may be too small to maintain uniform room air mixing-which can affect thermal comfort. Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) evaluated the performance of high sidewall air supply inlets and confirmed that these systems can achieve good air mixing and provide suitable comfort levels for occupants. Using computational fluid dynamics modeling, NREL scientists tested the performance of high sidewall supply air jets over a wide range of parameters including supply air temperature, air velocity, and inlet size. This technique uses the model output to determine how well the supply air mixes with the room air. Thermal comfort is evaluated by monitoring air temperature and velocity in more than 600,000 control volumes that make up the occupied zone of a single room. The room has an acceptable comfort level when more than 70% of the control volumes meet the comfort criteria on both air temperature and velocity. The study shows that high sidewall supply air jets achieve uniform mixing in a room, which is essential for providing acceptable comfort levels. The study also provides information required to optimize overall space conditioning system design in both heating and cooling modes.