Passive solar houses: Availability of weather suitable for calibration in the UK

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Abstract
The work aims to estimate the likely duration of monitoring which will be required to allow reasonably accurate field measurement of the fabric heat loss and effective solar aperture of low-energy and passive solar houses, using the co-heating method. Everett et al have shown that field measurement using this technique requires measurement of the auxiliary energy consumption of the house over a period with a wide range of daily mean insolation. The duration of monitoring necessary to meet this type of criterion has been calculated for monitoring periods starting at various times of the year, using between 6 and 18 years of radiation data for seven UK sites. The results of this project confirm and extend Everett's original results. They show for example that 'rapid thermal calibration projects', which aim to provide reliable characterisation of house performance from a few weeks of intensive monitoring, should ideally be scheduled to start in late winter or in late summer and autumn. These conclusions are not strongly dependent on the precise insolation criteria or on geographic location.

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