Choracteristics of Various Passive Heating Systems.

Collecting Storage Walls

of about 20 cm the internal temperature swing may be excessive.

Thin conductive walls, of about locm, will heat up rapidly at their interior and thus may be useful in winter in buildings which are used only during the day, like schools, offices, etc. To prevent too high temperature elevation additional thermal storage, in the other walls, ceiling or the floor, is desirable. Comment: In summer, and also in spring and fall, the thermal walls may cause severe heat stress unless they can be shaded effectively and, in regions with hot summers, also insulated during the daytime.
c)Colors and Surface Properties

The higher the solar absorption of the external wall surface, the higher is the heat gain through the system. The most common choice is therefore a dark paint. The heat lost outwards by reradiation from a dark painted surface is, however, also very high due to the high emissivity of ordinary paints for longwave infrared. The heat l o s s to the outdoor can be reduced by applying a llselectivefl surface to the wall, in the form of a metallic film glued to the wall. Application of a selective film to a concrete wall requires a very smooth surface of the concrete. This point should be taken care of during the casting of the concrete. About the same performance will be obtained if, instead of painting the wall with an ordinary black (or other dark) paint and providing it with double glazing, it will have a selective surface with single glazing. Compared with a wall with ordinary dark surface and single glazing, the one with a selective surface and a single glazing will have a significantly higher performance. For a given energy needs a smaller area will thus be required, facilitating also summer.shadingand/or insulation.
d) Effect of Vents on Performance

Under optimal flow conditions about 30% of the total energy flow, in "ventedtt walls made of concrete about 30cm thick, is by convection and 70% is by conduction.As the temperature in the air space is lowered, less heat is lost through the glazing. Therefore the overall efficiency is higher by about 10% in systems with Wented@I walls as compared with unvented walls. Note, however, that if the vents are not closed effectively at night the reverse air flow lowers the efficiency of WentedVv walls well below the level of unvented ones. Experience in buildings where vents have been installed has shown that the daily handling of the vents is bothersome, and also that the vents interfere with "furnishingll the rooms. As a result new buildings which were built in Santa Fe, for example with collecting storage walls, mostly have unvented walls. e) Insulation and Shading of Thermal Storage Walls In regigns with mild winters (mid- winter average temperature about 5 C) night insulation may not be justified from the solar heating aspect. However, in regions with swny summers and average mid-summer daytime temperature about 27 C, the elevation
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