DESIGN OF HOT WATER USER PROFILES FOR SWEDISH CONDITIONS

Rather simple hot water consumption profiles are most often used in simulations. The hot water usage may however influence both the heat balance of a building and the ability to utilize solar energy. The aim of this study was to investigate how people tend to use hot water compared to the simplified profiles in standard simulation programs. This was done by using a Swedish study on time use comprising more than 450 persons. Hot water profiles have been generated for people living in detached houses, both extreme cases and average consumption. It is shown that the commonly used hot water profiles in two simulation programs diverge more or less significantly from the real profile designed in this study. The next step is to use the profiles in simulations of solar collector performance.