Simple R-C circuit with sources to model thermal performance of a small building. This simple model is similar to early programmable calculator building modeling approaches, yet all building modeling software make use of the electrical conductivity/thermal conductivity analogy.
Question: how complex must a model be?
Build a simple toy model and perform an experiment.
Outside view of tiny house.View of inside of house showing location of temperature and light sensors. For some experiments a water-filled canister was placed inside as a thermal mass.Temperature and light sensors placed inside and outside house. Data logged using a LabJack USB A/D system with a linux laptop.Place tiny house in freezer and monitor inside and outside temperatures.
Result
Simple R-C circuit model fits the experiment well.
Future work:
Instrument a real house. A Raspberry Pi system has already been configured for this experiment.
Use genetic algorithms to find the simplest R-C circuit model able to provide useful results.
