Experimental Analysis of the Thermal Performance of a Sunspace Attached to a House with a Central Air Conditioning System

Abstract

In this paper, the thermal performance of a sunspace attached to a house with a central air conditioning system was experimentally investigated. The house with a south-facing sunspace is located in Miyazaki, Japan, where heating is required in winter. In order to reduce the heating energy in winter, the hot air from the attached sunspace is sent to the central air conditioning room, from where it is then distributed and stored throughout the house by way of air circulation. Only when the temperature in the sunspace exceeds 24 • C is the hot air in the sunspace sent to the central air conditioning room. The air circulation between the attached sunspace and central air conditioning room is 500 m 3 /h. The temperature of the attached sunspace and each room were measured. The results showed that a house with a sunspace can save about 12.2% of energy compared to a house without a sunspace.

Overheating assessment in flats with glazed balconies in warm-summer humid continental climate

“…[5][6][7] The prevailing part of such analyses is based on computer simulations, 1,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] but some are also supported by experimental research and temperature measurements in existing dwellings. [15][16][17][18][19] The most extensive monitoring of flats with glazed balconies was carried out in Finland, aiming at the estimation of their effectiveness in the cold climate of northern latitude. [16][17][18] The research was carried out in multifamily prefabricated buildings with cantilever or added balconies.…”

“…[20][21][22] In some publications, short-time measurements of internal temperature in dwellings with glazed balconies are used for validation of computer simulation programs, applied in further analyses of cooling loads with varying input parameters (such as the balcony's orientation, window to floor area ratio, shading systems, etc.). 19,23,24 Long-term experimental research on the influence of sunspaces on the summer thermal comfort in dwellings is very scarce. The first references to the subject come from Tasks 8 and 20 of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Solar Heating and Cooling Program (SHC), but they did not report overheating problems in the rooms adjacent to greenhouses of single-and multi-family model buildings.…”

Thermal and Optical Properties of the Sunspace Casing as Factors Influencing Temperature Rise in Greenhouse Systems

“…Nevertheless, in such facilities, a significant temperature increase in the greenhouse was also observed by Rempel et al [ 11 ]. During research conducted in Japan by Ma et al, temperatures of up to 40 °C were recorded on sunny winter days inside the glazed loggia, and the period in which temperature exceeded 30 °C accounted for over 70% of the measurement time from November to February [ 12 , 13 ]. Experimental studies on historic small buildings in Spain also confirmed the effectiveness of greenhouses in passive heating of the air.…”

“…The authors of [ 20 ] studied the possibilities of reducing heating demand in a building equipped with a modular sunspace prototype placed on the roof, reaching a 25% to 58% reduction in energy use (depending on the climatic conditions). Ma et al [ 12 ] experimentally investigated the thermal performance of a sunspace attached to a house with a central air conditioning system, distributing the preheated air from the solar space. The process was activated depending on the temperature difference between the adjacent bedroom and the sunspace.…”