Comparisons within the Porch, SunRoom and Shop: 2-6-2002

Monitoring in just Porch, SunRoom and Shop was performed to better understand how these different spaces compare in thermal behavior. These parts, located on the west end of the house, do not receive full sun until the latter part of the day. In spite of this a warming spike is noticed in the SunRoom at around 10:00 in the morning. As the sun hits this space more strongly, the south end of the Porch begins to warms and the SunRoom temperature drops to within a few degrees of the Porch. At around noon, the fan turns on and begins transferring warm air into the Shop. This transfer warms the Shop from 49ºF at 11:30 a.m. to 54ºF at 4:00 p.m., an increase of 5ºF. After the sun goes down, the propane heater in the Shop is used to make the working conditions a little more comfortable here. The south end of the Porch and the west end of the SunRoom, despite being at the extremities of this open space, display very similar temperatures. While the ability the capture and store heat is not sufficient to provide comfortable working conditions in the shop in early February, this solar component in conjunction with the insulation values, require all small amounts of supplemental fossil fuel based heat.