Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Continuous measurements of air change rates in an occupied house for 1 year: The effect of temperature, wind, fans, and windows

Abstract

A year-long investigation of air change rates in an occupied house was undertaken to establish the effects of temperature, wind velocity, use of exhaust fans, and window-opening behavior. Air change rates were calculated by periodically injecting a tracer gas (SF6) into the return air duct and measuring the concentration in 10 indoor locations sequentially every minute by a gas chromatograph equipped with an electron capture detector. Temperatures were also measured outdoors and in the 10 indoor locations. Relative humidity (RH) was measured outdoors and in five indoor locations every 5 min. Wind speed and direction in the horizontal plane were measured using a portable meteorological station mounted on the rooftop. Use of the thermostat-controlled attic fan was recorded automatically. Indoor temperatures increased from 21°C in winter to 27°C in summer. Indoor RH increased from 20% to 70% in the same time period. Windows were open only a few percent of the time in winter but more than half the time in summer. About 4600 hour-long average air change rates were calculated from the measured tracer gas decay rates. The mean (SD) rate was 0.65 (0.56) h−1. Tracer gas decay rates in different rooms were very similar, ranging only from 0.62 to 0.67 h−1, suggesting that conditions were well mixed throughout the year. The strongest influence on air change rates was opening windows, which could increase the rate to as much as 2 h−1 for extended periods, and up to 3 h−1 for short periods of a few hours. The use of the attic fan also increased air change rates by amounts up to 1 h−1. Use of the furnace fan had no effect on air change rates. Although a clear effect of indoor–outdoor temperature difference could be discerned, its magnitude was relatively small, with a very large temperature difference of 30°C (54°F) accounting for an increase in the air change rate of about 0.6 h−1. Wind speed and direction were found to have very little influence on air change rates at this house.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • ASTM Standard Test Method for Determining Air Change in a Single Zone by Means of a Tracer Gas Dilution, E741-95, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA (1995)

  • ASTM Standard Test Method for Determining Air Leakage Rate by Fan Pressurization, E779-99, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA (1999)

  • Bahnfleth DR Moseley TT Harris WS Measurement of infiltration in two residences: Part I. Technique and measured infiltration, ASHRAE Trans (1957) 63: 453–476

    Google Scholar 

  • Burch DM Hunt CM Retrofitting an Exiting Wood Frame Residence for Energy Conservation — Air Experimental Study, Building Science Series 105, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC (1978)

  • Coblentz CW Achenbach PR Field measurements of air infiltration in ten electrically-heated houses, ASHRAE Trans (1963) 69: 358–365

    Google Scholar 

  • Dick JB The fundamentals of natural ventilation of houses, J Inst Heat Vent Eng (1950) 18: 123–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Dick JB Thomas DA Ventilation research in occupied houses, J Inst Heat Vent Eng (1951) 19: 306–326

    Google Scholar 

  • Emmerich SJ Nabinger SJ Measurement and Simulation of the Impact of Particle Air Cleaners in a Single-Zone Building, National Inst Standards Tech NISTIR 6461, Gaithersburg, MD (2000

  • Etheridge D Sandberg M Building Ventilation: Theory and Measurement. Wiley, New York 1996

  • Goldschmidt VW Leonard GR Ball JE Wilhelm DR Wintertime infiltration rates in mobile homes In: Hunt C.M., King J.C., and Trechsel H.R. (Eds.) Building Air Change Rate and Infiltration Measurements, STP 719. American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA 1980 pp 107–124

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Haldane JS Report of the Departmental Committee appointed to enquire into the Manufacture and Use of Water Gas and Other Gases Containing a Large Proportion of Carbonic Oxide. Appendix I. HMSO, C. 9164, 1899 1899

  • Howard-Reed CH Wallace LA Ott WR The effect of opening windows on air change rates in two homes, J Air Waste Manage Assoc (2002) 52: 174–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt CM Air infiltration: a review of some existing measurement techniques and data In: Hunt C.M., King J.C., and Trechsel H.R. (Eds.) Building Air Change Rate and Infiltration Measurements, STP 719. American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA 1980 pp 3–23

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt CM King JC Trechsel H.R. (Eds.) Building Air Change Rate and Infiltration Measurements, STP 719. American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA 1980

    Google Scholar 

  • Lagus PL Air leakage measurements by the tracer dilution method In: Hunt C.M., King J.C., and Trechsel H.R. (Eds.) Building Air Change Rate and Infiltration Measurements, STP 719. American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA 1980 pp 16–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Lagus PL King JC Air leakage and fan pressurization measurements in selected naval housing In: Trechsel H.R., and Lagus P.L. (Eds.) Measured Air Leakage of Buildings, STP 904. American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA 1986 pp 5–16

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Laschober RR Healy JH Statistical analyses of air leakage in split-level residences, ASHRAE Trans (1964) 70: 364–374

    Google Scholar 

  • Malik N Field studies of dependence of air infiltration on outside temperature and wind, Energy Build (1978) 1: 281–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray DM Burmaster DE Residential air exchange rates in the United States: empirical and estimated parametric distributions by season and climatic region, Risk Anal (1995) 15(4): 459–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nazaroff WW Feustel H Nero AV Rexvan KL Grimsrud DT Essling MA Toomey RE Radon transport into a detached one-story house with a basement, Atmos Environ (1985) 19(1): 31–46

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Palmiter LS Brown IA Bond TC Measured infiltration and ventilation in 472 all-electric homes, ASHRAE Trans (1991): 979–987

  • Persily AK Measurements of air infiltration and airtightness in passive solar homes In: Trechsel H.R., and Lagus P.L. (Eds.)Measured Air Leakage of Buildings, STP 904. American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA 1986 pp 46–60

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pettenkofer MV Ueber den Luftwechsel in Wohngebäuden, Munich 1858

  • Sinden FW Wind, temperature and natural ventilation — theoretical considerations, Energy Build (1978) 1: 275–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trechsel HR Lagus PL (Eds.) Measured Air Leakage of Buildings, STP 904. American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA 1986

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wang FS Sr Sepsy CF Field studies of the air tightness of residential buildings In: Hunt C.M., King J.C., and Trechsel H.R. (Eds.) Building Air Change Rate and Infiltration Measurements, STP 719. American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA 1980 pp 24–35

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Warner CG Measurements of the ventilation of dwellings, J Hyg (1940) 40: 125–153

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L A WALLACE.

Additional information

This study was partially funded by an EPA Internal Grant to the first author. It has been reviewed and cleared for publication. Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials are identified in this paper in order to specify the experimental procedure adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

WALLACE, L., EMMERICH, S. & HOWARD-REED, C. Continuous measurements of air change rates in an occupied house for 1 year: The effect of temperature, wind, fans, and windows. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 12, 296–306 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500229

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500229

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links