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Mechanical Air Distribution Interactions with the House System in Hot and Humid Climates
Abstract
A large and growing body of research has proven
that there are important and often dangerous interactions
taking place in homes across America. The key
element in all of these findings is a new understanding
of the pressure differences and the resulting air
flows that are occurring in our homes. These
powerful driving forces or pressures are caused by
the fans in HVAC systems and venting appliances.
Other contributory factors are today's tight building
envelopes. door closure and badly leaking forced air
duct systems.
We now know that on average 25%-40% of the air
handler fan flow is either coming from, or being lost
to, areas outside of the thermal envelope by residential
duct systems. My experience in testing and
repairing over 1,000 homes in Austin, Texas has
confirmed these findings. It has also been shown in
tracer gas testing that in most homes the air change
rate of the home will double or triple when the
HVAC system is in operation thus introducing large
amounts of moisture and heat into the house. Another
surprising fact is the fact that interior closing
doors can cause combustion appliances to experience
backdrafting of their combustion by products into the
home.
This paper will present a review of the basic
principles of Mechanical Air Distribution And
Interacting Relationships
Citation
Garrett, D. A. (1994). Mechanical Air Distribution Interactions with the House System in Hot and Humid Climates. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu); Texas A&M University (http://www.tamu.edu). Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /6627.