Diurnal Heat Storage in Direct-Gain Passive-Solar Buildings

摘要

This paper presents a simplified method for predicting temperature swings in direct-gain buildings. It is called the DHC method due to the use of a diurnal heat capacity (DHC). Diurnal heat capacity is a measure of the effective amount of heat stored during a sunny day and then released at night - the typical 24-hour diurnal cycle. This enables prediction of the maximum temperature swings experienced in the building and can be calculated using a single 24-hour harmonic. The advantage is that closed-form analytic solutions can be obtained for a variety of simple and layered-wall configurations. Higher harmonic components are accounted for by a correction factor. The method is suitable for us by hand or on a programmable calculator. (ERA citation 08:035532)