Abstract
In this paper, are disscussed the effect of the thermal mass on the seasonal energy consumption of auxilixry heating in direct gain system through the experiments of two heating seasons using four test cells which have different thermal mass. The results are summarized as follows; 1. The seasonal energy consumptions of the test cells which have thermal mass were 25 % to 29 % less than that of no thermal mass test cell. 2. The effect of the thermal mass on the energy consumption of the test cells varies with the differnces of solar gain in the heating season. Therefore, in the case of disscussing the seasonal energy consumption of massive building, it is required to investigate covering all the period of the heating season. 3. The average of diurnal energy consumption of auxiliary heating in the heating season can be estimated by the average of the diurnal solar gain in the heating season. 4. The actual thermal capacity of massive test cell, which was calculated using the swing of room air temperature in the interrupted period of heating from 10 pm to 5 am, is closely related to the diurnal solar gain and the diurnal energy consumption.
