MEE 515- HVAC

Space Heating Load

Amne El-Cheikh, PhD

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 Outline
• Outdoor Design Conditions
• Indoor Design Conditions
• Transmission Heat Losses
• Infiltration
• Heat Losses from Ducts
• Supply Air for Space Heating
• Source Media for Space Heating

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 Outdoor Design Conditions
• An ideal heating system should provide just enough heat to match the heat loss from the structure
• However, since loads vary considerably with weather conditions, heating systems designed for worst conditions have
great excess capacity most of the time
• If the system fails to maintain design conditions during brief periods of severe weather, it is usually not a critical
issue
• Appendix B contains weather data for US, Canada and the world
• Columns 5 and 6 give 99.6 and 99 percent annual cumulative frequency of occurrence of the given temperature. i.e
the given db will be equaled or exceeded 99.6 or 99 % of the 8760 hours in a year
• On average, the temperature will fall below the 99.6% temperature for about 35 hours
• Columns 7 and 8 give the mean wind speed (MWS) and prevailing wind direction in degrees measured cw from north
• The humidity ratio outdoors for heating load calculations can be assumed equal to the value for saturated air at the
dry bulb temperature
• The outdoor design temperature should be the 99% value as specified by ASHRAE energy standards
• If the structure of lightweight construction (low heat capacity), is poorly insulated, or has considerable glass, or
temperature control is critical, the 99.6% value should be considered
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Outdoor Design Conditions

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 Indoor Design Conditions
• The indoor design temperature should be low enough that the heating equipment will not be oversized
• ASHRAE Standard 90.1 does not specify specific design temperature and humidity conditions for load calculations,
but does specify that the conditions should be in accordance with comfort criteria established by ASHRAE Standard
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• A design temperature of 70 F (22 C) is commonly used with relative humidity less than or equal to 30%
• This humidity is in the lower part of the comfort zone, however, higher humidities may cause severe condensation on
windows depending on wall insulation and construction
• Even properly designed equipment operates under partial load, at reduced efficiency, most of the time, therefore,
oversizing aggravates this condition and lowers the overall efficiency
• If the structure contains unheated spaces, the temperature of such spaces need to be calculated by making an
energy balance on the space assuming steady-state conditions

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 Transmission Heat Losses
• The heat transferred through walls, ceilings, roofs, windows, floors, and doors is all sensible heat and
referred to as transmission heat loss:
𝑞 = 𝑈𝐴 𝑡𝑖 − 𝑡𝑜

• The overall heat transfer coefficient U is determined as discussed in Chapter 5

• A separate calculation is made for each different surface in each room of the structure

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 Infiltration
• Most structures have some air leakage or infiltration which results in heat loss because the cold outside air
must be heated inside to the design temperature
• Also moisture should be added to increase humidity to the design value
• The sensible heat required is given by:
𝑞𝑠 = 𝑚𝑜 𝐶𝑝 𝑡𝑖 − 𝑡𝑜
• Infiltration is usually estimated on the basis of volume flow rate at outdoor conditions:
𝑄
𝑞𝑠 = 𝐶𝑝 𝑡𝑖 − 𝑡𝑜
𝑣𝑜
• The latent heat required to humidify the air is:
𝑞𝑙 = 𝑚𝑜 𝑊𝑖 − 𝑊𝑜 𝑖𝑓𝑔
• In terms of volume flow rate, it becomes:
𝑄
𝑞𝑙 = 𝑊 − 𝑊𝑜 𝑖𝑓𝑔
𝑣𝑜 𝑖
• Infiltration can account for a large portion of the heating load

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 Infiltration
• Various methods are used in estimating the air infiltration in building structures
• We will discuss one approach called: “crack method”
• It is based on the characteristics of windows, doors and walls and the pressure difference between inside
and outside
• Pressure difference is hard to predict because of variable wind conditions and stack effect in tall buildings
• There is limited information on the air leakage characteristics of the many components that make up a
structure

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 Infiltration- Crack Method
• Outdoor air infiltrates the indoor space through cracks and around doors, windows, lighting fixtures and
joints between walls and floor, and even through the building material itself
• The amount depends on the total area of the crack, type of crack, and pressure difference across the crack
• The volume flow rate of infiltration may be calculated by:

𝑄 = 𝐴𝐶∆𝑃𝑛
Where:
A: Effective leakage area of cracks
C: Flow coefficient, depending on crack type and nature of flow inside it
∆𝑃: Outside-Inside pressure difference
n: Exponent that depends on the nature of the flow in the crack, 0.4 < 𝑛 < 1.0

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 Infiltration- Crack Method
• Experimental data are required to use equation (𝑄 = 𝐴𝐶∆𝑃𝑛 ) directly
• The equation is useful in understanding the problem
• Figure 6-1 shows the leakage rate for some windows and door as a function of pressure difference and
crack type

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Infiltration- Crack Method
• The pressure difference in (𝑄 = 𝐴𝐶∆𝑃𝑛 ) results from 3 different effects:
∆𝑃 = ∆𝑃𝑤 + ∆𝑃𝑠 + ∆𝑃𝑝
1- ∆𝑃𝑤 : pressure difference due to wind
2- ∆𝑃𝑠 : Pressure difference due to the stack effect
3- ∆𝑃𝑝 : difference due to building pressurization

• Each of the pressure differences is taken to be positive when it causes air flow to the inside of the building
1- Pressure Difference due to Wind:
• The pressure difference due to wind results from an increase or decrease in air velocity and is given by:
𝜌
∆𝑃𝑤 = 𝑉𝑤2 − 𝑉𝑓2 𝐿𝑏𝑓 𝑓𝑡 2
2𝑔𝑐
Where:
- 𝑉𝑤 : wind velocity
- 𝑉𝑓 : wind velocity at the building boundary
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Infiltration- Crack Method
1- Pressure Difference due to Wind:
• If 𝑉𝑤 > 𝑉𝑓 , then ∆𝑃𝑤 is positive
• 𝑉𝑓 is not easily predictable, therefore it is assumed to be zero in this application
∆𝑃
• A pressure coefficient is used to allow for the fact that 𝑉𝑓 is not zero and is defined by: 𝐶𝑝 = 𝑤 , so that:
∆𝑃𝑤𝑡
∆𝑃𝑤 𝜌 2
= 𝑉
𝐶𝑝 2𝑔𝑐 𝑤
• The pressure coefficient Cp, depends on the shape and orientation of the building with respect to wind
• To satisfy continuity, air velocity must increase as air flows around and over the building, therefore, Cp will
change from a positive value to a negative one in going from windward to leeward side

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Infiltration- Crack Method
1- Pressure Difference due to Wind:
• Figure 6-2 gives average wall pressure coefficients for low-rise buildings
• High rise buildings have a height greater than three times the
crosswind width 𝐻 > 3𝑊
• Figures 6-3 and 6-4 give average pressure coefficients for high-rise
buildings

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Infiltration- Crack Method
2- Pressure Difference due to Stack Effect:
• The stack effect occurs when air density differs between the inside and outside of the building
• On winter days, the lower outdoor temperature causes a higher pressure at ground level on the outside
and consequent infiltration
• Buoyancy of warm air inside leads to upward flow, a higher pressure inside at the top of the building, and
exfiltration of air
• In summer, process reverses with infiltration in the upper portion of the building and exfiltration in the
lower part
• Considering only stack effect, there is a level in the building where no pressure difference occurs called the
Neutral Pressure Level
• For buildings with uniformly distributed cracks and openings in the vertical direction, the neutral pressure
level is at the mid-height of building
• When larger openings predominate in the lower portion of building, the neutral pressure level will be
lowered

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Infiltration- Crack Method
2- Pressure Difference due to Stack Effect:
𝑃𝑜 ℎ 𝑔 1 1
• The theoretical pressure difference due to stack effect: ∆𝑃𝑠𝑡 = −
𝑅𝑎 𝑔𝑐 𝑇𝑜 𝑇𝑖
Where
- 𝑃𝑜 : Outside pressure, psia or Pa
- h: Vertical distance, up or down, from neutral pressure level, ft or m
- 𝑇𝑜 : Outside temperature, R or K
- 𝑇𝑖 : Inside temperature, R or K
- 𝑅𝑎 : Gas constant for air, 𝑓𝑡. 𝑙𝑏𝑓 𝑙𝑏𝑚. 𝑅 𝑜𝑟 𝐽 𝑘𝑔. 𝐾
• The floors in a conventional building offer resistance to vertical air flow
• This resistance varies depending on how well stairwells and elevator shafts are sealed
• When the resistance can be assumed equal for each floor, a single correlation, called draft coefficient, can
be used to relate the actual pressure ∆𝑃𝑠 to the theoretical value ∆𝑃𝑠𝑡 :
∆𝑃𝑠 𝐶𝑑 𝑃𝑜 ℎ𝑔 1 1
𝐶𝑑 = → ∆𝑃𝑠 = −
∆𝑃𝑠𝑡 𝑅𝑎 𝑔𝑐 𝑇𝑜 𝑇𝑖
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Infiltration- Crack Method
2- Pressure Difference due to Stack Effect:
• The pressure difference due to stack effect:
𝐶𝑑 𝑃𝑜 ℎ𝑔 1 1
∆𝑃𝑠 = −
𝑅𝑎 𝑔𝑐 𝑇𝑜 𝑇𝑖
• Figure 6-5 is a plot of this equation for an inside
temperature of 75F or 24C, sea level outside pressure,
and winter temperatures
• It can be used for summer conditions with little loss in
accuracy
• The draft coefficient Cd, depends on the tightness of the
doors, elevator shafts and stairwells
• Values for Cd range from 1.0 for buildings with no doors in
the stairwells to about 0.65-0.85 for modern office
buildings

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Infiltration- Crack Method
3- Pressure Difference due Building Pressurization:
• Pressurization of the indoor space is accomplished by introducing more make-up air than exhaust air and
depends on the air distribution system rather than natural phenomena
• The space may be depressurized by improper or maladjusted equipment, which is usually undesirable
• The designer must assume a value of ∆𝑃𝑝 , taking care to use a value that can actually be achieved in
practice
• Often, the space is pressurized in an attempt to offset infiltration, especially with very tall buildings

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 Calculation Aids
• Figures 6-1, 6-6, and 6-7 and associated Tables 6-1, 6-2, and 6-3 give the infiltration rates, based on
experimental evidence, for windows and doors, curtain walls, and commercial swinging doors.
• Note that the general procedure is the same in all cases, except that curtain wall infiltration is given per
unit of wall area rather than crack length.

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• The pressure differences are estimated by the methods discussed
earlier, and the values for the coefficient K are given in Tables 6-1,
6-2, and 6-3.
• The use of storm sashes and storm doors is common. The addition
of a storm sash with crack length and a K-value equal to the prime
window reduces infiltration by about 35 percent.
• Commercial buildings often have a rather large number of people
going and coming, which can increase infiltration significantly.

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Calculation Aids
• Figures 6-8 and 6-9 have been developed to estimate this kind of infiltration for swinging
doors
• The infiltration rate per door is given in Fig. 6-8 as a function of the pressure difference
and a traffic coefficient that depends on the traffic rate and the door arrangement
• Figure 6-9 gives the traffic coefficients as a function of the traffic rate and two door types

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Calculation Aids
• Vestibule-type doors are best characterized as two doors in series so as to form an air
lock between them. These doors often appear as two pairs of doors in series, which
amounts to two vestibule-type doors
• The stack effect is small in low-rise buildings, and wall infiltration is usually very low;
therefore, only wind effects and crackage need be considered
• In high-rise buildings the stack effect may be dominant, with a relatively large amount
of leakage through the walls and around fixed window panels. All pressure effects as
well as window, door, and wall leakage should be considered for high-rise buildings
• Theoretically, it is possible to predict which sides of a building will experience
infiltration and which will experience exfiltration by use of the pressure coefficient
• However, buildings usually do not have uniformly distributed openings on all sides. This
will be particularly true for low-rise buildings
• It is recommended that the infiltration for low-rise buildings be based on double the
identifiable crack length for Windows and doors to allow for other, obscure cracks
• Each situation must be evaluated and a rational approach developed.
• The pressure coefficient approach is more feasible for high-rise buildings because the
stack effect tends to cause infiltration at the lower levels and exfiltration at the higher
levels in winter and the reverse in summer
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 Example 6-1
 A 12-story office building is 120 ft tall with plan dimensions of 120 x 80
ft. The structure is of conventional curtain wall construction with all
windows fixed in place. There are double vestibule-type doors on all four
sides. Under winter design conditions, a wind of 15 mph blows normal
to one of the long dimensions. Estimate the pressure differences for all
walls for the first and twelfth floors. Consider only wind and stack
effects. The indoor-outdoor temperature difference is 60 F.
Assume that there are more openings in the lower part of the building
so that the NPL is at the 5th floor instead of the 6th.

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Solution

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 Example 6-2
Estimate the infiltration rate for the leeward doors of Example 6-1. The
1
doors have in. cracks, and the traffic rate is low except at 5:00 P.M.,
8
when the traffic rate is 350 people per hour per door for a short time.

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Example 6-3
Estimate the leakage rate for the twelfth floor of the building
in Example 6-1. Neglect the roof.

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Infiltration
• Exhaust fans, chimneys, and flues can increase infiltration dramatically or
necessitate the introduction of outdoor air. In either case the heat loss of
the structure is increased
• Direct-fired warm-air furnaces are sometimes installed within the confines
of the conditioned space
• If combustion air is not brought in from outdoors, conditioned air from the
space will be drawn in and exhausted through the flue
• Infiltration or outdoor air must then enter the structure to make up the
loss and contributes to a higher heat loss
• Many codes require that combustion air be introduced directly to the
furnace from outdoors. Indeed, this should always be the rule
• For natural gas (methane) the ratio of air to gas on a volume basis is about
10. This is equivalent to 10 ft3 or 0.28 m3 of air per 1000 Btu or 1.06 x 106 J
input to the furnace
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 Heat Losses from Ducts
• The heat losses of a duct system can be considerable when the ducts are not in the conditioned space
• Proper insulation will reduce these losses but cannot completely eliminate them
• The loss may be estimated using the following relation: 𝑞 = 𝑈𝐴𝑠 ∆𝑡𝑚
- U: Overall heat transfer coefficient, Btu/(hr-ft2-F) or W/(m2-C)
- As: Outside surface area of duct, ft2 or m2
- ∆𝑡𝑚 : Mean temperature difference between duct air and the environment, F or C
• When the duct is covered with 1 or 2 in. of fibrous glass insulation with a reflective covering, the heat loss will
usually be reduced sufficiently to assume that the mean temperature difference is equal to the difference in
temperature between the supply air temperature and the environment temperature.
• Unusually long ducts should not be treated in this manner, and a mean duct air temperature should be used
instead.

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 Example 6-5
 Estimate the heat loss from 1000 cfm of air at 120 F flowing in a 16 in.
round duct 25 ft in length. The duct has 1 in. of fibrous glass insulation,
and the overall heat transfer coefficient is 0.2 Btu/(hr-ft 2 -F). The
environment temperature is 12 F.

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 Heat Losses from Ducts
• Although insulation drastically reduces the heat loss, the magnitude of the temperature difference and surface
area must be considered in each case
• Minimum insulation of supply and return ducts is presently specified by ASHRAE Standard 90.1
• All duct systems should be insulated to provide a thermal resistance, excluding film resistance, as shown in Table
6-4, where ∆𝑡 is the design temperature differential between the air in the duct and the surrounding air in F or C.
• Heat losses from the supply ducts become part of the space heating load and should be summed with
transmission and infiltration heat losses.
• Heat losses from the return air ducts are not part of the space heat loss but should be added to the heating
equipment load.

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Auxiliary Heat Sources
• The heat energy supplied by people, lights, motors, and machinery may be
estimated
• But any actual allowance for these heat sources requires careful
consideration
• People may not occupy certain spaces in the evenings, weekends, or during
other periods, but these spaces must generally be heated to a reasonably
comfortable temperature prior to occupancy
• In industrial plants any heat sources available during occupancy should be
substituted for part of the heating requirement
• In fact, there are situations where so much heat energy is available that
outdoor air must be used to cool the space
• However, sufficient heating equipment must still be provided to prevent
freezing of water pipes during periods when a facility is shut down
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Supply Air for Space Heating
• Computing the air required for heating was discussed in Chapter 3 and took into account
sensible and latent effects as well as outdoor air.
• However, there are many cases when the air quantity Q is conveniently computed using the
sensible heating load:
𝑄𝑐𝑝
𝑞 = 𝑚𝑐𝑝 𝑡𝑠 − 𝑡𝑟 = (𝑡 − 𝑡𝑟 )
𝜈𝑠 𝑠
𝑞𝜈𝑠
𝑄=
𝑐𝑝 (𝑡𝑠 − 𝑡𝑟 )
𝑞 : sensible heating load, Btu/hr or W
𝜈𝑠 : specific volume of supplied air, ft3/lbm or m3/kg
𝑡𝑠 : temperature of supplied air, F or C
𝑡𝑟 : room temperature, F or C
• The temperature difference (t, — td is normally less than 100 F (38 C).
• Light commercial equipment operates with a temperature rise of 60 to 80 F (16 to 27 C),
whereas commercial applications will allow higher temperatures.
• The temperature of the air to be supplied must not be high enough to cause discomfort to
occupants before it becomes mixed with room air.
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 Supply Air for Space Heating
• With unit-type equipment typically used for small commercial buildings, each size is able to circulate a nearly
fixed quantity of air
• Therefore, the air quantity is fixed within a narrow range when the heating equipment is selected. These units
have different capacities that change in increments of 10,000 to 20,000 Btu/hr (about 5 kW) according to the
model
• A slightly oversized unit is usually selected with the capacity to circulate a larger quantity of air than
theoretically needed
• Another condition that leads to greater quantities of circulated air for heating than needed is the greater air
quantity usually required for cooling and dehumidifying
• The same fan is used throughout the year and must therefore be large enough for the maximum air quantity
required (Some units have different fan speeds for heating and for cooling)
• After the total air-flow rate Q required for the complete structure has been determined, the next step is to
allocate the correct portion of the air to each room or space
• This is necessary for design of the duct system. Obviously the air quantity for each room should be apportioned
according to the heating load for that space

- : volume flow rate of air supplied to room n, ft3/min or m3/s

- : total heat loss of room n Btu/hr or W
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Source Media for Space Heating
• The amount of water, steam, or fuel required to heat the space must be
determined in order to design the system piping.
• This is needed for the heating coil or exchanger in each air handler unit.
• For hot water, the following relation, from which 𝑚𝑤 or 𝑄𝑤 can be
determined, is valid:
𝑞 = 𝑚𝑤 𝑐𝑝 (𝑡1 − 𝑡2 )
- 𝑞 : heating required, Btu/hr or W
- 𝑚𝑤 : mass flow rate of hot water, lbm/hr or kg/s
- 𝑐𝑝 : specific heat of water, Btu/lbm or kJ/(kg-C)
- 𝑡2 : water temperature leaving coil, F or C
- 𝑡1 : water temperature entering coil, F or C
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Source Media for Space Heating
• The previous equation can be simplified for this special case by assuming that Cp is
constant and changing from to in gallons per minute (gpm) or Liters per second (L/s)
in English units
in SI units
• For steam heating fluid, the required relation to determine is:

- : heating required
- : mass flow rate of the vapor, lbm/hr or kg/s
- : enthalpy of the vapor leaving the coil, Btu/lbm or kJ/k
- : enthalpy of the vapor entering the coil, Btu/lbm or kJ/kg

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Source Media for Space Heating
• When saturated vapor is the heating medium, the quantity is equal to the enthalpy of
vaporization
• In the case of a furnace where combustion gases heat the air directly, the heating value of the
fuel and a furnace efficiency must be known
• A general relation from which can be found is:

- : rate at which fuel is being used, lbm/hr or kg/s

- HV : heating value of the fuel, Btu/lbm or kJ/kg
- : furnace efficiency
• For gaseous fuels, the heating value (HV) is usually given on the basis of unit volume:

- : volume rate at which fuel is being used, ft3/min or m3/s

- HV : heating value of the fuel, Btu/ft3 or kJ/m3
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