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Melody, Moya

Publications and source records attributed to Melody, Moya.

Resources for National Water Savings for Outdoor Water Use

In support of efforts by the U.S. Environmental Agency's (EPA's) WaterSense program to develop a spreadsheet model for calculating the national water and financial savings attributable to WaterSense certification and labeling of weather-based irrigation controllers, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory reviewed reports, technical data, and other information related to outdoor water use and irrigation controllers. In this document we categorize and describe the reviewed references, highlighting pertinent data. We relied on these references when developing model parameters and calculating controller savings. We grouped resources into three major categories: landscapes (section 1); irrigation devices (section 2); and analytical and modeling efforts (section 3). Each category is subdivided further as described in its section. References are listed in order of date of publication, most recent first.

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Field-Monitoring of Whole-Home Dehumidifiers: Initial Results of a Pilot Study

Since 2004, options for reducing humidity in residences have included both whole-home and portable dehumidifiers. Although shipments of whole-home dehumidifiers (WHDs) still represent a small fraction of the shipments of portable units, there has been an increase in WHDs being used in conjunction with a home’s air-handling system. In the United States, WHDs are installed primarily in homes in the humid areas of the East, Midwest, and South.

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Using Field-Metered Data to Quantify Annual Energy Use of Residential Portable Unit Dehumidifiers

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that space heating and cooling no longer account for the majority of all residential energy consumption (they represented 47.7 percent in 2009). According to EIA, energy consumption for appliances, lighting, and electronics not only represents the majority of residential consumption, but continues to rise. Some of the decline in energy use for space heating and cooling may be attributable to better-insulated structures and population shifts to warmer climates. Those same factors may be contributing to an increased reliance on space-conditioning appliances, specifically dehumidifiers. Additionally, as the world’s climate changes, it is expected that absolute humidity will rise along with temperature. A recent study reports that continued climate warming will place significant limitations on human activity in typically hotter, more humid environments. Increased human discomfort may drive an even greater use of dehumidifiers and a resulting increase in residential energy use.

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Field-Metered Data from Portable Unit Dehumidifiers in the U.S. Residential Sector: Initial Results of a Pilot Study

The work described herein is intended to enrich the body of literature regarding dehumidifiers in residential settings—in particular the hours of use and energy consumption of various types of dehumidifiers. In the United States, portable unit dehumidifiers most commonly are used in basements during humid summer days in northern climates. Dehumidifier energy consumption differs among households depending on settings selected by the user, frequency of use, and conditions of operation. Although some estimates of dehumidifier use have been developed, and a few metering studies performed, there remains a paucity of metered data collected from individual households that use dehumidifiers. For this study we obtained field data on the energy consumption of dehumidifiers to supplement currently available analyses. Our goal was to obtain data from a pilot study that we could use to develop initial distributions describing the capacities and applications of dehumidifiers used in individual homes. More precisely characterizing the use of dehumidifiers in real-world applications will enable a more accurate estimate of the range of energy use in various operational modes. Our pilot field-metering exercise was aimed at compiling real-time data on the energy consumption of portable dehumidifiers in residential households in the New England and Mid-Atlantic areas. Our analysis furthers the process of developing a more precise estimate of dehumidifier energy use, which will support the evaluation of the potential energy savings and attendant costs associated with more energy efficient dehumidifiers.

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Typical hot water draw patterns based on field data

There is significant variation in hot water use and draw patterns among households. This report describes typical hot water use patterns in single-family residences in North America. We found that daily hot water use is highly variable both among residences and within the same residence. We compared the results of our analysis of the field data to the conditions and draw patterns established in the current U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) test procedure for residential water heaters. The results show a higher number of smaller draws at lower flow rates than used in the test procedure. The data from which the draw patterns were developed were obtained from 12 separate field studies. This report describes the ways in which we managed, cleaned, and analyzed the data and the results of our data analysis. After preparing the data, we used the complete data set to analyze inlet and outlet water temperatures. Then we divided the data into three clusters reflecting house configurations that demonstrated small, medium, or large median daily hot water use. We developed the three clusters partly to reflect efforts of the ASHRAE standard project committee (SPC) 118.2 to revise the test procedure for residential water heaters to incorporate a range of draw patterns. ASHRAE SPC 118.2 has identified the need to separately evaluate at least three, and perhaps as many as five, different water heater capacities. We analyzed the daily hot water use data within each cluster in terms of volume and number of hot water draws. The daily draw patterns in each cluster were characterized using distributions for volume of draws, duration of draws, time since previous draw, and flow rates.

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