Determination of the effective leakage areas of houses by multilinear regression analysis of the energy consumption data.

The steady-state heat loss of a house can be expressed as the sum of the above-grade conduction loss, the below-grade conduction loss, and the infiltration loss, minus the solar gain. Each of these terms is the product of a weather related variable and a coefficient that describes a physical characteristic of the house. If the infiltration driving force is properly defined, the infiltration coefficient is the equivalent leakage area. Thus amultilinear regression analysis of the total energy consumption of the house (including internal gains) against the four weather parameters will yield values of the four coefficients, including the equivalent leakage area. Thistechnique has been applied to two houses. The equivalent leakage areas determined correlate well enough with those measured by a blower door, indicating that the method has promise.