CHAPTER 5

HEAT TRANSFER IN
RESIDETIAL BUILDINGS

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CHAPTER CONTENTS

5.1 MODES OF HEAT TRANSFER

5.2 CONVECTION HEAT TRANSFER
5.3 RADIATION HEAT TRANSFER
5.4 CONDUCTION HEAT TRANSFER
5.5 HEAT LOSS FROM WALLS AND FLOORS BELOW GRADE
5.6 WALL SURFACE TEMPERATURE
5.8 INSIDE DESIGN TEMPERATURES FOR UNHEATED SPACES

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5 .1 MODES OF HEAT TRANSFER

• Heat transfer is the transient flow of thermal energy from one

system to another due to temperature difference between the
two systems.

• There are three modes of heat transfer: convection, radiation,

and conduction. In most real life cases, the effect of one mode
dominates the other two. Each one of these modes is
considered in detail in the following slides.

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5.2 CONVECTION HEAT TRANSFER
• The general equation for heat transfer by convection is given by the
following relationship, which is known as Newton's Law of cooling.
(5-1)

• where q is the rate of heat transfer by convection, A is the heat transfer

surface area, h is the convection heat transfer coefficient, or film
conductance. Tw is the wall surface temperature, andTf is the
temperature of the fluid. The convection heat transfer coefficient h, has
the units of W/m2·°C in the SI system of units.
• Equation (5-1) can be rearranged as follows:
(5-2)

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5.3 RADIATION HEAT TRANSFER
• In contrast to heat transfer by conduction and convection which require a
medium for their existence, heat transfer by radiation can take place in
complete vacuum.
• The radiation heat exchange between two objects is proportional to the
difference of the fourth power of the absolute temperatures of the two objects.

(5-4)

• where σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. It equals to 5.669x10-8 W /m2·K4,

A1 is the surface area of body 1, F1-2 is the view or shape factor, which
indicates the fraction of thermal energy leaving body 1 and reaching body 2,
and ε is the equivalent emissivity of the two objects. T1 and T2 are the
absolute temperatures of the two bodies.

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5.4 CONDUCTION HEAT TRANSFER
• In conduction mode of heat transfer the systems are in physical contact and
heat is transferred from one molecule to the adjacent one. It was observed by
Fourier that the conduction heat flux qIA in a given direction is directly
proportional to temperature difference in the direction of heat flow ΔT and
inversely proportional to the distance in the same direction Δx.
• For very small changes in ΔT and Δx, the Fourier's law of conduction is as
follows:
(5-7)

• where k, the proportionality constant, is the thermal conductivity of the material

through which conduction takes place. The negative sign is necessary because
the direction of heat transfer is in the direction of decreasing temperature. The
units of k in the SI system of units is W/m·°C. Values of k for some selected
construction materials are listed in Table 5 - 1.
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• Integrating and rearranging Eq. (5-7), the following
result is obtained:

(5-9)
• However, a wall could be made of several number of
layers. Such a wall is called a composite wall. Figure
5-1 shows that, for steady state conditions, the heat
flow rate is the same for each of the wall layers.
Thus:

• Substituting for Eq. (5-9) in the above equation in

terms of temperatures, the thermal conductivities,
and the thickness of the various layers, the following
relationship is obtained:
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By solving the above three equations simultaneously, the following relation is
obtained:

In terms of thermal resistances, Eq. (5-13) becomes as follows:

Equation (5-14) is presented in

electrical resistance diagram, as
shown.
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Thus, if the inside and outside air film resistances are included in the composite
wall analysis, Eq. (5-13) becomes as follows:

Where Ti and To are the inside and outside air temperatures, respectively. h i and
h o are the inside and the outside film heat transfer coefficients, respectively. In
terms of heat resistances, Eq. (5-15) becomes:

Where Ri and Ro are the inside and the outside film thermal resistances of the
air films, respectively. For air conditioning purposes, values of Ri and Ro are
listed in Tables 5-2 and 5-3 for a number of heat flow directions. Equation (5-
16) is represented as shown below.

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Equation (5-16) can be expressed as follows:

Where Ti is the inside air or room air design temperature and To is the outside
air design temperature.

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Dwelling spaces include windows and doors in addition to walls, ceilings and
floor. Overall heat transfer coefficients of selected windows and doors are given
in Table 5-4 and Table 5-5, respectively.

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Tables 5-6 and 5-7 list the overall heat transfer coefficients of selected walls and
ceiling structures. These values could be used directly if the wall and ceiling under
consideration has an identical structure and identical values of Ro as that shown
in Tables 5-6 and 5-7.

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5.5 HEAT LOSS FROM WALLS AND FLOORS BELOW GRADE
The heat loss through basement walls and floors below grade depends on the value of
overall heat transfer coefficient U, for all surfaces in contact with the soil and the
temperature difference between the inside air and the ground. The overall heat transfer
coefficient depends on the wall or floor depth below grade, thermal conductivity of the soil
and the inside air film resistance. All these factors involve considerable uncertainty when U
is calculated in the usual manner. Experience has shown that the overall heat transfer
coefficients values for walls and floors below grade, as given in Tables 5-8 and 5-9, give
satisfactory results when the floors are 1 m or more below grade level.
The temperature difference ΔT, which must be used when calculating the heat transfer
through the below grade walls and floors is the inside design temperature Ti, minus the
ground temperature Tg.
The ground temperature near the surface of the earth differs with the season of the year
and prevailing climate. For winter season, its value can be taken as that of ambient air
temperature plus 5 to 10°C for moderate climates. Table A-11 of the appendix lists
values of Tg for selected locations in Jordan.

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5.6 WALL SURFACE TEMPERATURE
The temperature of the inside wall surface of a given room is not the same as the
inside design temperature of the room. The value of the wall surface temperature
depends on the convection conditions inside the room, the insulating
characteristics of the wall and on the outside ambient conditions of temperature
and wind speed. If the wall surface temperature is lower than the inside air dew-
point temperature, moisture will tend to 1 condense which will cause serious
damage to the wall plaster and painting. For this reason, water vapor should not
be allowed to condense on inside surface of the rooms. This can be prevented by
the following methods:
(1) Increase the inside air design temperature.
(2) Lower the inside relative humidity.
(3) Improve the inside air movement circulation. This factor has the effect of
decreasing the inside film resistance.
(4) Increase the insulation effectiveness of the wall, if it is practically possible.
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5. 7 BREATHING LINE TEMPERATURE
Breathing line temperature n , is the temperature value at the breathing line of 1.5 m
above .floor level. Temperature stratification exists in heated space since warm air
tends to rise to the ceiling of the heated space. This causes a temperature distribution
within the space. The breathing line temperature is different from the average room
temperature Tavg., and the ceiling air temperature, Tc. These two temperatures are
expressed as:

And;
where H is the height of the room. Equation (5-20-a) applies for rooms that are heated
with warm air circulation methods and for room heights that do not exceed 4.5 m.
Equation (5-20-a) assumes that the air temperature in °C rises approximately 6% for
each meter of the height ·above the breathing line. If the room is heated by direct
radiation, then a temperature rise factor of 13% per one meter of the height above the
breathing line should be used instead of the 6% factor.
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5.8 INSIDE DESIGN TEMPERATURES FOR UNHEATED SPACES
The following guidelines and rules are followed to determine the design
temperature of such unheated or uncooled spaces:

(a) Summer cooling with unconditioned space adjacent:

The temperature of the unconditioned space Tun , for this case is obtained
according to the following relation:

(b) Adjacent space having unusual heat sources:

Such as kitchens, boiler rooms, etc. For this case, 5°C or 10°C are added to the
outside design temperature when the heat gain of the wall is computed.

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(c) Heating season with adjacent room unheated:
For this case, the temperature difference across the separating wall is taken as
one-half the temperature difference between the inside space and the outside air
when the heat loss through the wall of the adjacent room is calculated i.e.

( d) Ground floors directly on the ground:

As stated earlier, the ground temperature needed for the calculation of the heat
loss through such floors is taken 5 to 10°C above the outside air temperature.
Alternatively, some arbitrary temperature difference between the inside space and
the ground may be assumed.
(e) Attics:
For an attic that is adjacent to the ceiling of the top story of a building, the heat
loss through the ceiling to the attic is equal to the heat transfer rate from the attic
to the outside air.
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Thus:

• Where Ur is the overall heat transfer coefficient of the roof, Uc is the overall
heat transfer coefficient of the ceiling, T is the attic air temperature. To and Ti
are the outside air and the inside space design temperatures, respectively.
• An overall heat transfer coefficient, Uov. , for the ceiling, attic and the roof
assembly can be estimated from the following relation;

• The overall heat transfer coefficient of the above equation is based on the
ceiling area Ac. Equation (5-26) indicates that the heat transfer rate through
the ceiling is equal to the heat transfer through the composite structure of
ceiling attic and roof.

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Tank you

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