- Estimation Of Required

Cooling/Heating Capacity

..Sample Problems

9. A building has a U-value of 0.5 W/m2.K and a total exposed surface area of 384
m2. The building is subjected to an external load (only sensible) of 2 kW and an
internal load of 1.2 kW (sensible). If the required internal temperature is 25oC, state
whether a cooling system is required or a heating system is required when the
external temperature is 3oC. How the results will change, if the U-value of the
building is reduced to 0.36 W/m.K?
Ans.: From energy balance,

(Q solar + Q int ) sensible (2 + 1.2)x1000

Tout,bal = Tin − = 25 − = 8.33 o C
UA 0.5 x 384

Since the outdoor temperature at balance point is greater than the external
temperature (Text < Tout,bal);

the building requires heating (Ans.)

When the U-value of the building is reduced to 0.36 W/m.K, the new balanced
outdoor temperature is given by:

(Q solar + Q int ) sensible (2 + 1.2)x1000

Tout,bal = Tin − = 25 − = 1.85 o C
UA 0.36 x 384

Since now the outdoor temperature at balance point is smaller than the external
temperature (Text > Tout,bal);

the building now requires cooling (Ans.)

The above example shows that adding more insulation to a building extends the
cooling season and reduces the heating season.
10. An air conditioned room that stands on a well ventilated basement measures 3 m
wide, 3 m high and 6 m deep. One of the two 3 m walls faces west and contains a
double glazed glass window of size 1.5 m by 1.5 m, mounted flush with the wall with
no external shading. There are no heat gains through the walls other than the one
facing west. Calculate the sensible, latent and total heat gains on the room, room
sensible heat factor from the following information. What is the required cooling
capacity?
Inside conditions : 25oC dry bulb, 50 percent RH
Outside conditions : 43oC dry bulb, 24oC wet bulb
U-value for wall : 1.78 W/m2.K
U-value for roof : 1.316 W/m2.K
U-value for floor : 1.2 W/m2.K
Effective Temp. Difference (ETD) for wall: 25oC
Effective Temp. Difference (ETD) for roof: 30oC
U-value for glass ; 3.12 W/m2.K
Solar Heat Gain (SHG) of glass ; 300 W/m2
Internal Shading Coefficient (SC) of glass: 0.86

Occupancy : 4 (90 W sensible heat/person)

(40 W latent heat/person)
Lighting load : 33 W/m2 of floor area

Appliance load : 600 W (Sensible) + 300 W(latent)

Infiltration : 0.5 Air Changes per Hour
Barometric pressure
ss 101 kPa
Ans.: From psychrometric chart,

For the inside conditions of 25oC dry bulb, 50 percent RH:

Wi = 9,9167 x 10-3 kgw/kgda

For the outside conditions of 43oC dry bulb, 24oC wet bulb:

Wo = 0.0107 kgw/kgda, density of dry air = 1.095 kg/m3

External loads:

a) Heat transfer rate through the walls: Since only west wall measuring 3m x 3m with
a glass windows of 1.5m x 1.5m is exposed; the heat transfer rate through this wall is
given by:

Qwall = UwallAwallETDwall = 1.78 x (9-2.25) x 25 = 300.38 W (Sensible)

b) Heat transfer rate through roof:

Qroof = UroofAroofETDroof = 1.316 x 18 x 30 = 710.6 W (Sensible)

c) Heat transfer rate through floor: Since the room stands on a well-ventilated
basement, we can assume the conditions in the basement to be same as that of the
outside (i.e., 43oC dry bulb and 24oC wet bulb), since the floor is not exposed to solar
radiation, the driving temperature difference for the roof is the temperature difference
between the outdoor and indoor, hence:

Qfloor = UfloorAfloorETDfloor = 1.2 x 18 x 18 = 388.8 W (Sensible)

d) Heat transfer rate through glass: This consists of the radiative as well as
conductive components. Since no information is available on the value of CLF, it is
taken as 1.0. Hence the total heat transfer rate through the glass window is given by:

Qglass = Aglass [Uglass(To−Ti)+SHGFmaxSC] = 2.25[3.12 x 18 + 300 x 0.86] = 706.9 W

(Sensible)

e) Heat transfer due to infiltration: The infiltration rate is 0.5 ACH, converting this into
mass flow rate, the infiltration rate in kg/s is given by:

minf = density of air x (ACH x volume of the room)/3600 = 1.095 x (0.5 x 3x3x6)/3600

minf = 8.2125 x 10-3 kg/s

Sensible heat transfer rate due to infiltration,Qs,inf;

Qs,inf = minfcpm(To−Ti) = 8.2125 x 10-3 x 1021.6 x (43 – 25) = 151 W (Sensible)

Latent heat transfer rate due to infiltration, Ql,inf:

Ql,inf = minfhfg(Wo−Wi) = 8.8125x10-3 x 2501x103(0.0107−0.0099)=16.4 W (sensible)

Internal loads:

a) Load due to occupants: The sensible and latent load due to occupants are:

Qs,occ = [Link] occupants x SHG = 4 x 90 = 360 W

Ql,occ = [Link] occupants x LHG = 4 x 40 = 160 W

b) Load due to lighting: Assuming a CLF value of 1.0, the load due to lighting is:

Qlights = 33 x floor area = 33 x 18 = 594 W (Sensible)

c) Load due to appliance:

Qs,app = 600 W (Sensible)

Ql,app = 300 W (Latent)

Total sensible and latent loads are obtained by summing-up all the sensible and
latent load components (both external as well as internal) as:

Qs,total = 300.38+710.6+388.8+706.9+151+360+594+600 = 3811.68 W (Ans.)

Ql,total = 16.4+160+300 = 476.4 W (Ans.)

Total load on the building is:

Qtotal = Qs,total + Ql,total = 3811.68 + 476.4 = 4288.08 W (Ans.)

Room Sensible Heat Factor (RSHF) is given by:

RSHF = Qs,total/Qtotal = 3811.68/4288.08 = 0.889 (Ans.)

To calculate the required cooling capacity, one has to know the losses in return air
ducts. Ventilation may be neglected as the infiltration can take care of the small
ventilation requirement. Hence using a safety factor of 1.25, the required cooling
capacity is:

Required cooling capacity = 4288.08 x 1.25 = 5360.1 W ≈ 1.5 TR (Ans.)