Residential Building Energy Consumption and Loss Reduction Methods

Author

Edward J. Balthazar

Date of Award

2008

Degree Name

Physical Science

College

College of Science

Type of Degree

M.S.

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Nicola Orsini

Second Advisor

Ralph Oberly

Third Advisor

James Brumfield

Abstract

Home energy costs can be a large monthly expense for many people. Reduction of home energy consumption has multiple benefits – personal cost reduction, increased comfort, and global stewardship. The author embarked on a multi-year series of projects to reduce energy losses. The projects include plugging air infiltration gaps, installing further insulation layers, and buying an energy efficient heat pump. Data for natural gas and electricity use and local weather are presented, with heating as the major energy use. A linear correlation between cold weather conditions and natural gas consumption, and a cyclical annual weather-energy algorithm were both developed. Conductive heat losses were calculated for each building surface. With completion of several projects, the natural gas usage has been reduced significantly. Total savings are $1700 for three years providing a net payback on the project investment of 4 years.

Subject(s)

Energy consumption - Economic aspects.

Energy conservation.

Natural gas.

Recommended Citation

Balthazar, Edward J., "Residential Building Energy Consumption and Loss Reduction Methods" (2008). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 452.
https://mds.marshall.edu/etd/452