[Greenbuilding] Heat loss monitoring (was something else abouttemperature)

[Reuben Deumling]

On 10/25/06, Keith Winston <keith at earthsunenergy.com> wrote:
>
> It seems to me counting logs is relatively useless, since logs come in all
> sizes and species. At the least, you'd have to count the weight and quality
> of the wood you're burning.


I'm keeping close track of volume and species of the wood I'm burning

If you wanted to really understand the thermal responsiveness of your house,
> you'd probably need (at a minimum) outdoor temperature, indoor temperature,
> total fuel used, and related activities


This is fairly easily done, both for a given 24 hour stretch and for the
season overall, with obviously differing degrees of detail/precision.

(running bathroom or kitchen exhaust fans, [no fans yet] having a wrestling
> party with 30 people [almost always 2.3 people home], leaving the door
> open for 10 minutes every hour, [not when it is cold!] having a fire burning
> (mostly loss) vs. a woodstove). [small woodstove only source of heat] Good
> luck! It would be particularly interesting to compare the resultant numbers
> with predictions from a software heat loss calculator like HVAC-Calc or one
> of the free ones (Retscreen?).


Can you point me to such a calculator? I'd be interested--though I'm not
quite clear on what the output of such a calculator is. My purpose here is
really quite banal: to quantify in colloquial units (degree F drop/hour or
overnight; cords of wood burned per season) before and after my insulation.
It isn't even a cost effectiveness calculation in so far as I'm going to be
doing the work myself and most likely taking forever to accomplish the
goal...:-)

-----------------------------------------

As for tracking temperature, I may go with a Hobo logger plus software
($120) though I'd hoped to spend a bit less money. I like the USB
temperature probe a lot ($40 ea.), but this requires a computer to be
connected and on while data is being collected. One option I'm still
pursuing is using a TI-84 Plus calculator (~$50 used) and a USB thermometer
+ software ($40)--what I don't know is how much data/over what time I can
run this.
Thanks.
Reuben Deumling