Winter indoor thermal comfort and healthy conditions of Auckland house associated with insulation, heating and energy

Abstract

Common problems of winter indoor micro‐climatic conditions of Auckland houses are low air temperature and high relative humidity. Winter indoor air temperature and relative humidity are mainly impacted by house design with different insulation in their envelopes, different space heating methods and how much energy is used for space heating. The three Auckland houses, with different insulation and glazing in their envelopes and different space heating methods (temporary heating and central heating), were selected for field studies of winter indoor microclimatic conditions. According to the field study data and energy data, the study identifies differences in indoor thermal and health conditions of local houses with different R‐value building envelopes, investigates what type of space heating is suitable and how much space heating energy is needed to achieve the guidelines for indoor thermal comfort and healthy conditions for a local lightweight timber frame construction house with sufficient insulation and double glazed windows. To compare and identify differences of energy consumption between the house using central heating and the local houses using different temporary space heating, this study randomly collected the energy data of 131 Auckland sample houses using different temporary heating methods, with or without sufficient insulation and double glazed windows.