Effect of a Radiant Barrier on the Cooling Load of a Residential Application in a Hot and Arid Region: Attic Duct Effect

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1998

Publication Title

HVAC & R Research

Volume

4

Issue

3

First page number:

231

Last page number:

244

Abstract

A computer simulation showed that an attic radiant barrier system (RBS) (a commercial product laminated to the underside of the roof sheathing) significantly reduces cooling load requirements in hot desert climates. This reduction was due to both a reduction in sensible heat transfer through the ceiling and an even greater reduction in losses (heat pickup) by the HVAC ducting system in the attic. These reductions were around 16% in run time over the daytime hours and an overall 9% reduction over a five-day period. This latter effect indicates the need to improve current duct-loss calculation methods.

Keywords

Attics; Computer simulation; Cooling load; Dwellings – Air conditioning; Heat – Transmission; Insulation (Heat)

Disciplines

Engineering | Heat Transfer, Combustion | Mechanical Engineering

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

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