Persistence of the impact of the Hood River Conservation Project on typical and peak loads three years after weatherization

The Hood River Conservation Project (HRCP) was a major residential retrofit demonstration project, operated by Pacific Power Light Company (Pacific Power) between 1984 and 1988, and funded by the Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville). The project was designed to install as many cost-effective retrofit measures in as many electrically heated homes as possible in the community of Hood River, Oregon. The Pacific Power HRCP planners statistically selected a special group of 320 Hood River homes that represented a cross-section of the community. The end-use loads (electric space heating, electric water heating, and woodfuel space heating) and the interior temperatures of these homes were monitored for one year before weatherization and three years after weatherization. After more than four years of submetered data collection, 220 single-family, detached homes were available for analysis in the second load study. Weather was normalized for the four heating seasons by matching one day from the pre-program year with one day from each postretrofit year

Energy efficiency study of single-wide manufactured homes

This Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was among Tennessee Technological University, Clayton Homes, Inc., and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Manufactured homes now make up a substantial portion of the new home market, and improving the energy efficiency of these homes would save significant amounts of energy. This project explored the impact of differing levels of attic insulation, the use of evacuated insulation panels, and the application of a solar reflective roof coating. The performance of the installed roof cavity insulation compared favorably with that predicted by laboratory measurements. The more heavily insulated of the two units used about 30% less energy over the period of the project than the standard unit. Based on the experimental data, computer simulations for nine cities were completed for a single-wide manufactured home with the solar reflective roof coating. Annual electric power savings ranged from 894 kWh in Rapid City to 2119 kWh for the same roof area in Los Angeles. The field performance of vacuum insulation panels was compared with laboratory performance. The panels will perform as expected if protected from puncture

Supporting documentation for the 1997 revision to the DOE Insulation Fact Sheet

The Department of Energy (DOE) Insulation Fact Sheet has been revised to reflect developments in energy conservation technology and the insulation market. A nationwide insulation cost survey was made by polling insulation contractors and builders, and the results are reported here. These costs, along with regional weather data, regional fuel costs, and fuel-specific system efficiencies were used to produce recommended insulation levels for new and existing houses. This report contains all of the methodology, algorithms, assumptions, references, and data resources that were used to produce the 1997 DOE Insulation Fact Sheet

Retrofit Best Practices Guide

Few people add siding or change their windows just to reduce their energy bills. But whatever your reasons for retrofitting your home, this will be an important opportunity to improve your home's energy efficiency. Not only will this reduce your utility bills, it will also improve your comfort level and improve our environment. Retrofitting your house is a big deal, and you shouldn't underestimate the effort that will be required to plan the job properly. The energy conservation rewards can be great, but there are also pitfalls that you'll want to avoid. That's what this Best Practices Guide is all about. We can't cover all the issues in these few pages, but we'll tell you some things you need to know if you're changing your siding or windows, and tell you where to learn more about other changes you may want to make to your house. What exactly is a ''best practice''? To put this guide together, we've tested products, talked to contractors and manufacturers, and reviewed the results from a large number of house retrofits. Of course, ''best'' will vary according to the situation. That's why you must start with a careful examination of your house and its existing condition

Calmac Ice Storage Test report

The Ice Storage Test Facility (ISTF) is designed to test commercial ice storage systems. Calmac provided a storage tank equipped with coils designed for use with a secondary fluid system. The Calmac ice storage system was tested over a wide range of operating conditions. Measured system performance during charging was similar to that reported by the manufacturer. Both the measured average and minimum brine temperatures were in close agreement with Calmac's literature values, and the ability to fully charge the tank was relatively unaffected by charging rate and brine flow rate. During discharge cycles, the storage tank outlet temperature was strongly affected by the discharge rate. The discharge capacity was dependent upon both the selected discharge rate and maximum allowable tank outlet temperature. Based on these tests, storage tank selection must depend most strongly on the discharge conditions required to serve the load. This report describes Calmac system performance fully under both charging and discharging conditions. Companion reports describe ISTF test procedures and ice-making efficiency test results that are common to many of the units tested. 11 refs., 31 figs., 9 tabs

Transient thermal analysis of three fast-charging latent heat storage configurations for a space-based power system

A space-based thermal storage application must accept large quantities of heat in a short period of time at an elevated temperature. A model of a lithium hydride phase change energy storage system was used to estimate reasonable physical dimensions for this application which included the use of a liquid metal heat transfer fluid. A finite difference computer code was developed and used to evaluate three methods of enhancing heat transfer in the PCM energy storage system. None of these three methods, inserting thin fins, reticulated nickel, or liquid lithium, significantly improved the system performance. The use of a 95% void fraction reticulated nickel insert was found to increase the storage capacity (total energy stored) of the system slightly with only a small decrease in the system energy density (energy storage/system mass). The addition of 10% liquid lithium was found to cause minor increases in both storage density and storage capacity with the added benefit of reducing the hydrogen pressure of the lithium hydride. 9 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs

Benchmarking a computational fluid dynamics model of separated flow in a thin rectangular channel for use in predictive design analysis

The Advanced Neutron Source (ANS) reactor is being designed to provide a research tool with capabilities beyond those of any existing reactors. One portion of its state-of-the-art design requires high speed fluid flow through narrow channels between the fuel plates in the core. Experience with previous reactors has shown that fuel plate damage can occur when debris becomes lodged at the entrance to these channels. Such debris can disrupt the fluid flow to the plate surfaces and prevent adequate cooling of the fuel. Preliminary ANS designs addressed this issue by providing an unheated entrance length for each fuel plate. In theory, any flow disruption would recover within this unheated length, thus providing adequate heat removal from the downstream heated portions of the fuel plates

Browns Ferry waste heat greenhouse environmental control system design

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee Valley Authority and the Environmental Research Laboratory at the University of Arizona cooperated on the design of an experimental greenhouse located at TVA's Browns Ferry Nuclear Generating Station. Two greenhouse zones are heated by waste heat from the plant's condenser effluent. For comparison, a third greenhouse zone is heated conventionally (fossil-fueled burners) as a control. Design specifics for each of the three zones and a qualitative operating evaluation are presented