Standard Practice for Estimation of Heat Gain or Loss Through Ceilings Under Attics Containing Radiant Barriers by Use of a Computer Program

1.1 This practice covers the estimation of heat gain or loss through ceilings under attics containing radiant barriers by use of a computer program. The computer program included as an adjunct to this practice provides a calculational procedure for estimating the heat loss or gain through the ceiling under an attic containing a truss or rafter mounted radiant barrier. The program also is applicable to the estimation of heat loss or gain through ceilings under an attic without a radiant barrier. This procedure utilizes hour-by-hour weather data to estimate the hour-by-hour ceiling heat flows. The interior of the house below the ceiling is assumed to be maintained at a constant temperature. At present, the procedure is applicable to sloped-roof attics with rectangular floor plans having an unshaded gabled roof, a horizontal ceiling, and no HVAC ducts in the attic. It is not applicable to structures with flat roofs, vaulted ceilings, or cathedral ceilings. The calculational accuracy also is limited by the quality of physical property data for the construction materials, principally the insulation and the radiant barrier, and by the quality of the weather data.

1.2 Under some circumstances, interactions between radiant barriers and HVAC ducts in attics can have a significant effect on the thermal performance of a building. When analysis of these interactions is completed they will be added to the computer program.