Los Alamos test-room results

Fourteen Los Alamos test rooms have been operated for several years; this paper covers operation during the winters of 1980-81 and 1981-82. Extensive data have been taken and computer analyzed to determine performance parameters such as efficiency, solar savings fraction, and comfort index. The rooms are directly comparable because each has the same net coefficient and solar collection area and thus the same load collector ratio. Configurations include direct gain, unvented Trombe walls, water walls, phase change walls, and two sunspace geometries. Strategies for reducing heat loss include selective surfaces, two brands of superglazing windows, a heat pipe system, and convection-suppression baffles. Significant differences in both backup heat and comfort are observed among the various rooms. The results are useful, not only for direct room-to-room comparisons, but also to provide data for validation of computer simulation programs.