A computer study for estimation of seasonal energy consumption and selection of air-conditioner in six Saudi Arabian cities
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A computer model was developed to simulate the building cooling load and the seasonal energy consumption of standard residential sized central air-conditioning systems. The model was first validated by comparing the predicted cooling energy consumption against the metered energy of a 100 m2 residence. The model predicts within 10% of the metered value. The validated model was next used to compute the cooling load and seasonal energy consumption for similar 100 m2 residences in six cities located in different climatic zones of Saudi Arabia. Simulations showed that the cities of Dhahran and Riyadh required a 17.6 kW system to satisfy the cooling load through the year, whereas the defined residences in the cities of Taif, Hail, Jeddah and Gizan required a 14.1 kW system. Our analysis showed that the selected residence in Gizan would consume 23,100 kWh annually, while a comparable residence located in Dhahran, having a more severe summer, required only 21,500 kWh. This difference may be explained by analysis of the weather data which revealed that Gizan required year-round cooling, whereas Dhahran needed cooling for only 283 days during the year. Investigation showed that, by selecting the next smaller capacity air-conditioning unit for each location than required to satisfy the load for 100% of the time, the annual power consumption may be reduced, on an average, by 10%, with about 7% of the hours during the cooling season when the air-conditioning load may not be satisfied. 1988.
