| Abstract: | A low-energy house located in Halifax, Canada was monitored for a year using a computerized data acquisition system. Data on indoor and outdoor temperatures, relative humidities, and power consumption were collected for a whole year. The results of the analysis of the cooling season data from the heat pump system are presented in this paper. The analysis of the data indicated that a large part of the latent cooling done by the heat pump was subsequently converted to sensible cooling as a result of the evaporation of the condensate from the indoor coil. It was found that 25% of the total sensible cooling supplied to the house during the cooling season was as a result of the conversion of latent cooling to sensible cooling. This phenomenon has important implications in design, operation, and modelling of heat pumps and cooling systems with direct expansion coils. The seasonal EER of cooling was 1.95, and the total power consumption was 1194 kWh with a corresponding cost of Can $84. It was also found that temperature set-up during unoccupied periods did not result in any savings in the daily power consumption. |
