Comparison of Energy Consumption for Residential Thermal Models With Actual Measurements

Abstract

High temperature that reaches to 50 °C in summer, high humidity, and dust storms are considered as the main characteristics of the climate of many countries around the world such as those in the Gulf States, Asia, and Africa. According to the latest studies, air conditioning (A/C) systems in the residential areas used around 65% of the generated energy. This paper is aimed at presenting a new residential thermal model that can be used to estimate the energy consumption of A/C units used to achieve comfort in houses. The results of the newly developed residential thermal model will be compared with exiting residential thermal models using simscape in matlab program and data measurements. Different physical properties of the house that affect the heat gains through the house envelop at different weather conditions, and the internal heat gains are taken into account in this study. Hourly, daily, monthly, and annually energy consumption and coefficient of performance (COP) are calculated, based on actual hourly outdoor temperature measurements and indoor generation heat for the year 2017, using the three thermal models and compared with the pertinent actual measurements. The total measured energy consumption for nine months' work in 2017 was 14488.09 kWh, and the total energy consumption predicted by the simulation for the simple model, intermediate model, and comprehensive model were 8438.40 kWh, 12656.10 kWh, and 13900.61 kWh, respectively, with deviations of 41.75%, 12.65%, and 4.05%, respectively, from the actual measurements.