Retro-fitting a house to take advantage of cool basement walls to reduce air conditioning cost. Final report

Abstract

The control house was retro-fitted t o use the basement a i r in the 1981 season. (See attached sketch *) ~r o m the above, the t e s t results may be 'inconclusive, b u t i f the cost of a i r conditioning per household generally is available, maybe a better analyzation might be accomplished. The figures on the t e s t house show what the result is i f the occupant has the same lifestyle both years and keeps track of both outside temperatures and humidity when opening up the' house to outside a i r. The control house received no advice on when to, o r when not to, open up the house and d i d naturally change their l i f e s t y l e in that they adopted a baby Jess than one year old, which added to the humidity problem because of laundry. Also, w i t h a basement shower, humidity reduction was a problem and i t ' s removal was included i n the KWH usage of both houses. I t is m y opinion that the system is cost effective, b u t t o get maximum savings, users should have an understanding of the requirement for dehumidifying the basement ai r and keeping the outside a i r out when i t 9s above 50 to 60 percent humidity.