€¦ · Web viewThis work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia...

Eric Peterson, PhD, RPEQ, M-AIRAH

Adjunct Senior Fellow, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, and Sessional Lecturer, School of Civil Engineering, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072

November 2014

A joint initiative of Australian, State and Territoryand New Zealand Governments.

Climate zone mapping for air conditioners and heat pump devices

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/3.0/au

The Department of Industry on behalf of the Equipment Energy Efficiency Program asserts the right to be recognised as author of the original material in the following manner:

© Commonwealth of Australia (Department of Industry) 2014.

The material in this publication is provided for general information only, and on the understanding that the Australian Government is not providing professional advice. Before any action or decision is taken on the basis of this material the reader should obtain appropriate independent professional advice.

This document is available at www.energyrating.gov.au

While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, E3 does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the content, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication.

Climate zone mapping for air conditioners and heat pump devices 2

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Contents

Table of Content

s1. Introduction and background....................................................................................................1

Current situation............................................................................................................................1Climate map...................................................................................................................................1Adoption of a new air conditioner testing and rating standard.....................................................2Key considerations of this project..................................................................................................2Data sources...................................................................................................................................2

2. Frosting analysis.......................................................................................................................3Background....................................................................................................................................3Results............................................................................................................................................3Conclusion......................................................................................................................................4

3. Heating and cooling load analysis.............................................................................................6Background....................................................................................................................................6Results............................................................................................................................................6Conclusion......................................................................................................................................8

4. Analysis of annual cooling and heating requirements..............................................................9Background....................................................................................................................................9Results............................................................................................................................................9Conclusion....................................................................................................................................10

5. Humidity analysis....................................................................................................................12Background..................................................................................................................................12Results..........................................................................................................................................12Conclusion....................................................................................................................................13

6. Reference climate data locations for ISO16358......................................................................15Background..................................................................................................................................15Analysis........................................................................................................................................15Results..........................................................................................................................................16

7. Report conclusions..................................................................................................................19Climate zones...............................................................................................................................19

8. References...............................................................................................................................20Appendix 1: Information on data sources.......................................................................................21Appendix 2: Heating and cooling loads..........................................................................................23Appendix 3: Evaporator coil frosting analysis – a further explanation...........................................25

Dew Point Temperature (DPT).....................................................................................................25Apparatus Dew Point (ADP).........................................................................................................25Assessing frosting potential.........................................................................................................25

Appendix 4: HERS zone analysis....................................................................................................26Analysis of all Australian and New Zealand HERS zones............................................................26

Appendix 5: ISO16358 Temperature bin data................................................................................31

Climate zone mapping for air conditioners and heat pump devices iii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Highest frosting zones in Australia and New Zealand...........................................................4Table 2: Heating and Cooling Degree Days – 28 original ABCB 2005 zones.....................................23Table 3: Heating and Cooling Degree Days – 41 additional ABCB 2006 zones.................................24Table 4: HERS zones analysis summary............................................................................................26Table 5: Rockhampton Heating Bins (106 degree-days with base 15°C)...........................................31Table 6: Rockhampton Cooling Bins (1074 degree-days with base 21°C).........................................32Table 7: Richmond Heating Bins (675 degree-days with base 15°C)................................................33Table 8: Richmond Cooling Bins (416 degree-days with base 21°C).................................................34Table 9: Canberra Heating Bins (1456 degree-days with base 15°C)...............................................35Table 10: Canberra Cooling Bins (210 degree-days with base 21°C)................................................36

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Locations with high frosting potential..................................................................................5Figure 2: Temperature thresholds requiring space conditioning........................................................6Figure 3: Correlation between cooling degree days and annual energy consumption.......................7Figure 4: Correlation between heating degree days and annual energy consumption.......................7Figure 5 Australia and New Zealand heating versus cooling requirements.....................................10Figure 6: Australian and New Zealand heating and cooling zones with frost risk areas included.. .11Figure 7: Australia and New Zealand evaporative cooling effectiveness..........................................13Figure 8: Final three climate zone map of Australia and New Zealand............................................14Figure 9: Rockhampton heating and cooling requirement frequencies............................................17Figure 10: Richmond heating and cooling requirement frequencies................................................17Figure 11: Canberra heating and cooling requirement frequencies.................................................18

Climate zone mapping for air conditioners and heat pump devices iv

Current situationThis project is intended to develop a map and representative climate data for the potential introduction of climate-specific energy efficiency ratings labels for a range of heating and cooling appliances. It will initially focus on air-cooled air conditioners, including reverse cycle air conditioners, sold throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Climate has a significant impact on the performance and energy efficiency of appliances, including air conditioners, space heaters and water heaters. Consumers are not currently provided with relevant information to assist in selecting a climate influenced appliance that will be the most energy efficient to operate in their own particular climate.

Currently, residential air conditioners are required to meet minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) at two average temperature points; one for cooling and another for heating. These temperature points only represent a fraction of the spectrum of operating conditions. This means the existing star ratings are not always a good measure of performance in climates that deviate from the average. The lack of climate specific information on the current Energy Rating Label (ERL) can lead to consumers in hotter or colder climates purchasing a unit that has less than optimal performance, despite potentially having a high ERL star rating. The current labelling system also reduces the incentives for manufacturers to design products that work particularly well in climates at either end of the temperature spectrum.

Cold weather evaporator coil frosting is considered a particularly important environmental variable for reverse cycle air conditioners. Currently, some products on the market perform extremely well under these difficult conditions while some almost cease to function. There is very little information available to consumers to help them choose the most appropriate and most efficient product for a frost prone environment. For instance, the current ERL for an air conditioner only gives mandatory heating performance at 7°C, which is above frosting temperatures. While suppliers have the option of disclosing performance within the frosting temperature range (2°C), the majority do not. This test point is referred to as the H2 test point.

On 27th July 2013, The Commonwealth of Australia engaged the consortium of University of Queensland (UQ) and New Zealand National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA) to assist in this project to produce a climate map for air conditioners operating in Australia and New Zealand.

Climate mapDisclosure of climate zone-relevant energy efficiency information is expected to enable consumers to consider a range of products that will operate more efficiently in their climate. As the map was intended to be used to inform consumers, the Department of Industry, on behalf of the Equipment Energy Efficiency (E3) Committee, sought guidance from focus group testing. This testing concluded that more than three climate zones would be confusing and likely result in consumers ignoring the information (Sweeney, 2013). As a result, the label development was constrained to a limit of three zones.

The map is intended to distinguish three areas of similar climate to enable better information on the impact of climate on appliance performance to be presented on a label. Due to the three zone limitation, it was not possible to use pre-existing maps, such as those developed for the Australian Building Code or for the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) and New Zealand Home Energy Rating System (NZHERS). However, an aggregation of the NatHERS and NZHERS zones was requested to assist any future alignment of building and appliance information. While the label will present data for only three zones, future development of online and smartphone applications could utilise climate data from all NatHERS and NZHERS zones. Analysis of climate data in each individual zone was completed in parallel.

Climate zone mapping for air conditioners and heat pump devices1

1. Introduction and background

Adoption of a new air conditioner testing and rating standardTo support climate rating labelling, the Department, on behalf of the E3 Committee, is currently investigating a move to a seasonal testing and rating regime for air conditioners, as per the recommendation of the 2010 air conditioner Decision Regulation Impact Statement (RIS). The proposal under investigation involves adopting ISO16358: Air-cooled air conditioners and air-to-air heat pumps – Testing and calculating methods for seasonal performance factors. This standard will test performance at a number of temperature points, including the critical 2°C (H2) point within the frosting range, and extrapolate performance at all temperatures. The standard requires that the hourly dry bulb (DB) temperatures for a location be tallied for each temperature point (termed a ‘bin’) for the heating and cooling seasons. An air conditioner’s performance will then be rated at each temperature point and the amount of time it would spend at each point throughout a year is totalled to give a total seasonal performance rating for that location. It is proposed that Australia and New Zealand will have three climate zones where performance will be rated; hot, cold and intermediate. The intermediate zone is referred to as the ‘mixed’ zone in this report.

The standard also requires a representative location to provide building loads and the outside temperature at which heating/cooling is required to begin to maintain comfort. The standard nominates a default outdoor dry bulb temperature of 20°C as the point at above which cooling is required and below 17°C for when heating is required.

Key considerations of this projectThree key environmental variables affecting air-cooled air conditioners were identified: apparatus dew point for evaporator frosting, dry bulb temperature and humidity. While ISO16358 only requires an analysis of dry bulb temperatures, humidity will be vital for any future inclusion of direct evaporative coolers into the climate rating scheme. Humidity is also an important driver of the performance of Heat Pump Water Heaters (HPWH), which are also being investigated for an inclusion in the climate rating label scheme.

In order to produce a map suitable for solar water heaters, solar radiation and water temperatures will need to be assessed through a separate project. This project would investigate including all water heaters into the climate rating label scheme, though it is likely a separate solar map would need to be produced for solar water heaters.

Data sourcesAnalysis of climate variables was conducted using the EnergyPlus reference files for 69 Australian NatHERS ABCB (2006) zones and 18 New Zealand HERS zones. Bin data for the three representative locations has been extracted from the April 2013 draft of the NatHERS Climate Files 2012 developed by New Zealand National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA) for the NatHERS Administrator.

The terms ‘Typical Meteorological Year’ (TMY) and ‘Representative Meteorological Year’ (RMY) are used interchangeably in this report. Strictly speaking, RMY files are CSIRO Accurate format, while TMY files present the same data in US Department of Energy EnergyPlus format.

For further information on the data sources, see Appendix 1.


BackgroundThe issue of coil frosting is a critical one for technologies that use the refrigerant cycle for heating. If the outdoor temperature falls to near or below freezing, moisture in the air passing over the cold outside coil will condense and freeze on it. As ice is a poor conductor, this barrier inhibits the transfer of heat across the heat exchanging coil and results in diminished performance. The amount of frost build-up depends on the outdoor temperature and the amount of moisture in the air, as well as the engineering and technological solutions employed by the unit to stop it occurring. A poorly designed unit will almost cease to function; a well-designed one won’t.

There is a range of possible cut-off temperatures above which frosting doesn’t usually occur. The present report adopts 5°C dry bulb (DB) as the upper level of concern for frosting, and assesses “frost degree hours” that are weighted by the amount of ice build-up. See Appendix 3 for further information.

ResultsThe locations within the top quartile of “evaporator coil ice build-up” potential are presented in Table 1, covering all 69 Australian NatHERS and 18 New Zealand NZHERS zones. Richmond NSW is presented as a less frost prone comparison, being 23rd on the list. Therefore, the threshold for “frost-build-up” has been set at 60 “ice build-up degree-days” and above. Degree days are obtained by dividing the number of hours of ice build-up over a year by 24.


2. Frosting analysis

Table 1: Highest frosting zones in Australia and New Zealand

PLACENAME HERS_ID Evaporator coil ice build-up degree days

Cabramurra NSW 25 506

Central Otago-Lauder NZ 117 310

Thredbo Village NSW 69 303

Orange Airport NSW 65 266

Queenstown Lakes NZ 115 220

Taupo King Country-Turangi NZ 105 161

Canterbury-Christchurch NZ 114 158

Wairarapa-Masterton NZ 111 150

Canberra Airport ACT 24 149

Launceston Airport TAS 68 133

Southland-Invercargill NZ 116 129

Ballarat Aerodrome VIC 66 120

Wagga Wagga NSW 20 101

Waikato-Hamilton NZ 103 97

West Coast-Hokitika NZ 113 92

Rotorua-Rotorua NZ 106 90

East Sale Airport VIC 22 82

Mt Lofty SA 59 82

Dubbo Airport NSW 48 75

Nelson Marlborough-Nelson NZ 112 71

Otago-Dunedin NZ 118 71

Launceston-Ti Tree Bend TAS 23 63

Richmond RAAF NSW 28 57

Table 1 shows the most extreme 23 Australian and New Zealand HERS zones for ice build-up on air conditioner evaporator coils.

ConclusionFigure 1 presents a map of the regions where air conditioner evaporator ice-up is likely to be a significant issue. The resulting map largely correlates with alpine areas and excludes the “winterless north” of New Zealand. Generally, the air conditioner evaporator ice-up area is a sub-set of the region that requires heating substantially more than cooling, with the exception of the cross hatched area titled “Ice-up & hot summers”. This depicts locations with very warm summers but winter conditions cold enough for an air conditioner to have to cope with substantial evaporator coil frosting (see later section on temperature analysis).

This map is also relevant for Heat Pump Water Heaters, as these products have the same performance issues associated with evaporator coil frosting.


Figure 1: Locations with high frosting potential

Figure 1 shows areas where ice-up on evaporator coils may substantially diminish the performance of air conditioners. This generally occurs where outdoor dry bulb temperature is below +2°C more than 1% of the year.


BackgroundA key requirement of this project was to assess at which external temperatures cooling and heating appliances are likely to be in operation in homes, through analysis of the relationship between external temperature and internal dwelling temperature.

The analysis was conducted using FirstRate5, which is NatHERS-accredited software. Simulations were performed on a simple, un-insulated slab-on-grade brick veneer dwelling with 600mm eaves and single glazing. Living and bedroom area was assumed to be 124 m² with an unconditioned 31 m² bath/laundry.

ResultsResults showed that a 15°C external air temperature was found to be most appropriate for estimating the point at which heating is required in Australian conditions (referred to as heating-degree days, or simply 15HDD), while 21°C was the most appropriate temperature point at which cooling is required (referred to as cooling-degree days, or simply 21CDD). However, it should be noted that the heating temperature has a higher correlation with simulated internal temperatures than the cooling temperature, owing to the complex interactions of humidity. These correlations are illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Temperature thresholds requiring space conditioning

9°C 12°C 15°C 18°C 21°C 24°C 27°CR²=0.940

R²=0.950

R²=0.960

R²=0.970

R²=0.980

R²=0.990

R²=1.000

Figure 2 shows the correlation between external temperatures and simulated internal temperatures reaching thresholds that require space conditioning at a range of Australian cities. Higher R² values signify greater statistical correlation.

The usefulness of degree days in predicting heating and cooling loads is further illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. The same uninsulated house modelled in each of the 69 Australian NatHERS climate zones was found to have NatHERS house ratings ranging from zero to 1.9 stars with a median of 1.2 stars (also see Appendix 2).

Figure 3: Correlation between cooling degree days and annual energy consumption


3. Heating and cooling load analysis

0 200 400 600 800 1000 12000

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4500f(x) = 4.64789362534752 xR² = 0.948550707396653

f(x) = 3.10433131997273 xR² = 0.96638667923818

f(x) = 1.8449442447823 xR² = 0.955930923000811

CDD versus MJ/m²

above shows the correlation (R² value) between cooling degree-days and modelled cooling energy consumption in mega joules (MJ) per annum per m² was highest using a set point of 21°C (21CDD).

Figure 4: Correlation between heating degree days and annual energy consumption

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f(x) = 1.38405581087126 xR² = 0.948450458588468

f(x) = 2.54886276661038 xR² = 0.99215271254934

f(x) = 4.10452626360797 xR² = 0.977058687776203HDD versus MJ/m²

Figure 4 above shows the correlation (R² value) between heating degree-days and modelled heating energy consumption in mega joules (MJ) per annum per m² was highest using a set point of 15°C (15HDD).


ConclusionAnnual degree days measure heating or cooling demand by adding the number of days below (for heating) or above (for cooling) a base outdoor temperature. Cooling or heating degree hours do the same thing using hourly data. While the raw data used is hourly, degree days are obtained by dividing the degree hours by 24.

The analysis determined that the base temperatures for heating and cooling demand aligned best with 15°C and 21°C respectively, 3°C lower than the critical temperatures employed by the Bureau of Meteorology for heating and cooling degree days (see for example www.bom.gov.au/climate/map/heating-cooling-degree-days/documentation.shtml). While conventional base temperatures of 18°C and 24°C may be relevant for estimating the energy demand of commercial premises, Australian Building Codes Board (2006) protocol recognises that residential heating of bedrooms is not required until indoor temperatures drop below 15°C, as most residents are expected to sleep comfortably with quilted bedcovers.

These temperatures apply to the uninsulated single story slab-on-grade brick veneer house modelled in this study. Such homes commonly remain throughout Australia and New Zealand, as most building stock are of a vintage preceding the energy efficiency provisions of building codes. Subsequent analysis in this project will use base temperatures of 21°C for cooling (21CDD) and 15°C for heating (15HDD).


BackgroundThe Department advised that a maximum of three zones would be required to represent information to consumers in a format they could easily assess. While analysis aimed to develop a three climate zone map, analysis of finer scale data was also conducted to enable the provision of higher resolution performance information through possible future online communication tools.

The three zones were separated as:

• Hot climates, where cooling degree days are more than twice as common as heating degree days over a year.

• Cold climates where heating degree days more than twice as common as cooling degree days, or where frosting is common.

• Mixed climates which are areas between hot and cold zones, so both heating and cooling is required and milder frosting is likely.

The analysis focused on air temperatures for space heating and cooling, noting that water temperatures are related to air temperatures. In addition, Heat Pump Water Heater performance is directly related to ambient air temperature, frosting and humidity.

Degree days were used for the analysis with a range of base temperatures. As discussed in the previous section, base temperatures of 21°C for cooling (21CDD) and 15°C for heating (15HDD) were found to be the most appropriate.

ResultsThe results for base temperatures of 21°C for cooling (21CDD) and 15°C for heating (15HDD) are presented visually in Figure 5. Appendix 2 shows the raw results of the temperature analysis at different base temperatures. A summary table showing the actual heating load percentage is presented in Appendix 4.


4. Analysis of annual cooling and heating requirements

Figure 5 Australia and New Zealand heating versus cooling requirements

Figure 5 shows the analysis of cooling versus heating loads of Australia’s 69 NatHERS zones and New Zealand’s 18 NZHERS zones. The red zones represent areas of Australia where cooling is needed more than twice as much as heating. Green and blue zones depict areas where heating is predominantly required.

Conclusion Unsurprisingly, the previous coil frosting analysis result includes nearly all of the areas identified as predominantly needing heating. However, this analysis extended this ‘cold’ zone into parts of the south-west of Western Australia and Victoria, and up along the tablelands of NSW to the QLD border. It also shows that even the north of New Zealand has much higher heating loads than cooling loads. Due to the greater emphasis of heating over cooling, these are all areas that can benefit from having air conditioners and Heat Pump Water Heaters that are designed to be efficient in cold and frosty conditions.

The analysis also confirms common perceptions that the northern half of Australia (coloured red in Figure 5) is hot and requires very little heating each year. However, it was noted that parts of the red coloured central Australia (such as Alice Springs) can have extended periods of cold weather. Indeed, temperatures can even dip into the coil frosting range for reasonable periods of time. However, the large need for cooling over the rest of the year still saw the total heating requirement coming to less than 33% of the total load.


The previous frosting analysis results were added to the temperature results to expand the ‘cold’ zone to areas of both high heating loads and moderate heating loads with high frosting potential. This mainly affects the area around Dubbo NSW where heating loads are only moderate but often coincide with coil frosting conditions. Therefore, an air conditioner that can cope with these conditions should be the preferred option. These results are depicted in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Australian and New Zealand heating and cooling zones with frost risk areas included

Figure 6 shows the combined map of temperature analysis for heating/cooling loads and air conditioner evaporator coil frosting potential gives the final ‘cold’ zone. It includes the blue, cross hatched blue and green areas.


BackgroundThe moisture content of the air (commonly referred to as humidity) is a key driver of performance for direct evaporative cooling systems, and to a lesser extent, Heat Pump Water Heaters. The ‘hot’ area classification of the previous temperature analysis was further refined to a classification of ‘hot-humid’ by including an analysis of humidity. It was decided that the aim of this analysis was to determine where direct evaporative cooling would be considered to be ineffective.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Handbooks recommend 21°C for the maximum acceptable supply air temperature of direct-evaporative cooling systems. These four volume documents have been considered the traditional repository of knowledge on the various topics that form the field of heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration and are updated annually (https://ashrae.org/). However, the more recent ASHRAE Standard 55, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy, recognises the adaptability of indoor comfort in non-air-conditioned premises. The present report adopts 24°C as the maximum acceptable supply air temperature of direct-evaporative cooling systems typically accepted in inland Australian dwellings.

ResultsFigure 7 shows a map of the simulated effectiveness of direct evaporative cooling at World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) stations over the Australian and New Zealand house energy rating scheme zones. The five colours of the weather station dots show the quartiles of cooling capacity. Following ASHRAE standards, this ignores the most extreme 0.4% of hot/humid weather data. This map assumes 27°C indoor conditions modelled with a direct evaporative cooler unit supplying 10,000 m³/hour of conditioned air with 85% effectiveness. Red ‘humid’ circles indicate locations where indoor supply air temperature exceeds 24°C, and so evaporative coolers are considered ineffective.


5. Humidity analysis

Figure 7: Australia and New Zealand evaporative cooling effectiveness

Figure 7 shows NatHERS and NZHERS polygons classified as red for ‘hot’, yellow for ‘mixed’ and blue for ‘cold’ with WMO station circles coloured according to the effectiveness (cooling power) of direct evaporative cooling. The model assumes a direct evaporative cooler unit supplying 10,000 m³/hour of conditioned air with 85% effectiveness directly into a 27°C house. Red circles indicate locations where evaporative coolers are considered ineffective.

ConclusionRed ‘hot’ classified NatHERS polygons that contain a majority of red ‘humid’ WMO circles are considered ‘hot-humid’ areas. Red ‘hot’ classified HERS polygons that contain non-red WMO polygons in major population centres are re-classified as ‘mixed’. The large central Australian NatHERS zone based on postcode 0872 and Alice Springs’ climate file, has been split along the Tropic of Capricorn in recognition of the higher humidity associated with the northern section of this zone. Mixed zones were not reclassified. These results are depicted in Figure 8.


Figure 8: Final three climate zone map of Australia and New Zealand

Figure 8 shows the reclassified HERS polygons are red for ‘hot-humid’, yellow for ‘mixed’, and blue for ‘cold’. Note that the mixed (heating and cooling) regions where coil frosting potential is high are represented by blue cross-hatching. The large central Australian zone based on postcode 0872 has been divided along the Tropic of Capricorn.

The humidity analysis had the effect of moving a number of the central Australian NatHERS zones out of the hot classification and into the mixed. Although outdoor humidity does not affect the performance of air-cooled air conditioners, it is critical to the performance of evaporative units. This analysis could allow evaporative coolers to be included in the same climate labelling regime should such a future project be undertaken.


Reclassifying these central Australian zones effectively removed those hot zones where heating at very low temperatures is occasionally required, as noted in the previous temperature analysis. For instance, the summary of results table in Appendix 3 shows that Alice Springs actually has a heating load of 27%. While this is still low enough to classify it as having a majority cooling load, the frosting days data shows that the heating load is often at coil frosting temperatures. Therefore, it would be prudent to recommend to consumers an air conditioner that can work at these conditions. By considering a unit’s performance in the mixed zone category, a small seasonal weighting for frosting conditions will apply. Using the hot/humid zone that has no weighting at this condition could mean that a central Australian consumer inadvertently buys a product that ceases to function under frosting conditions.Reference climate data locations for ISO16358BackgroundThe proposed adoption of ISO16358 Air-cooled air conditioners and air-to-air heat pumps – Testing and calculating methods for seasonal performance factors requires hourly dry bulb temperature bins for its calculation formulae. It was decided that air conditioners would have their performance rated against the Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) files of three reference climates; hot/humid, cold and mixed. See Appendix 1 for more information on the suitability of these files.

The guiding principles for choosing representative locations for this report included:

• a weighting for population;• a need for the three zones to be distinct from one another;• the need to clearly illustrate the performance of hot or cold specialised air conditioner or

Heat Pump Water Heaters so that consumers can readily distinguish their performance differences; and

• allowing the differentiation and demonstration of the effectiveness of direct evaporative coolers in the various zones.

AnalysisCold zoneCanberra is considered a good representative for the cold zone TMY, as it represents a relatively large population where heating is needed far more than cooling. However, it does have a 12% cooling load which means that the TMY file will have some useful cooling data to feed into the cooling season calculation formulae. Critically, it also represents a zone that experiences significant amounts of time at or below coil frosting conditions (see Table 1 and Appendix 4). This will allow the performance of air conditioners that are efficient at or below this point to be clearly discernible on the proposed seasonal energy rating label.

Other reference locations were considered on the basis of population, namely Moorabbin in Victoria and Auckland in New Zealand. However, their proximity to the coast means that there is limited hours spent in frosting conditions. Using the bin data from these locations would mean that the superior annual energy consumption of a cold weather specialised air


conditioner that works well in frosty conditions would not be readily distinguishable from one that does not.

While there are colder and frostier locations to choose from, some of these require little to no cooling throughout the year. At least in Australia, air conditioners are generally still purchased primarily for cooling, so it is important to have some bin data that represents periods of hot weather so the seasonal cooling performance of a product will be properly demonstrated on the proposed label.

Mixed zoneThere are several large population centres within the mixed zone amalgamation. Indeed, it has the largest population of the three zones and includes locations with climates that range from the occasional light snow fall, to days that reach over 45°C. Appliances sold into this zone should ideally be ‘all-rounders’ that can cope with either extreme.

Richmond (NSW) was considered the best population weighted location to illustrate these extremes owing to its large population size. Other large centres within this zone, such as Perth and Adelaide, have a stronger coastal climate influence which means frosting conditions are rare (See Appendix 4). A rating label based on climate data from these locations would not only be less differentiated from the hot/humid zone, it would potentially ‘mask’ the poor performance of some products at frosting conditions given the lack of weighting that would occur at this condition.

Hot/humid zoneThe hot/humid zone TMY needs to not only demonstrate conditions where an evaporative cooler is ineffective, but conditions where an air conditioner specialised for operating in the tropics would be easily discernible on a climate rating label.

While Brisbane had the largest population weighting of this zone, it was rejected on the basis that being the southernmost NatHERS zone of the hot/humid amalgamation, it only just meets the criteria for the hot/humid classification. For instance, Appendix 4 shows that 28% of the seasonal load is heating and there are also 5 frosting degree days. Using Brisbane’s TMY file would mean there would be little distinction between this zone and the mixed zone on a climate rating label. It would also leave consumers north of the Tropic of Capricorn unable to distinguish products that are especially designed for the tropics.

Furthermore, modelled performance of a direct evaporative air conditioner using the Brisbane TMY file, while being considered ineffective by this analysis, may still seem reasonable on any future label to some consumers. This could be very misleading to consumers north of the Tropic of Capricorn, where the higher humidity renders these products extremely ineffective.

Rockhampton, which is situated on the Tropic of Capricorn, was assessed as the most suitable location for the hot/humid TMY file. It is located relatively close to the large population centres of the southeast of the zone yet it is more representative of the true tropical locations further north, such as Cairns, Darwin and centres within Western Australia’s Kimberley Regions. It still has a small heating load of 10% but no frosting days. It has previously been chosen as the representative location for the northern ‘Zone 1’ in AS/NZS 4234:2008 Heated water systems - Calculation of energy consumption. Using Rockhampton’s TMY file will allow clearer distinction of seasonal performance between the mixed and hot/humid zones and allow the superior performance of a product designed for the tropics to be more obvious on a label.

ResultsFor the present report, related to house energy ratings, bin sampling is based on 24-hours per day for the entire year. The ISO 16358 reference bin base temperature for seasonal heating energy calculations is 17°C, whereas this report suggests 15°C is more appropriate


for household heating. The ISO 16358 reference bin base temperature for seasonal cooling calculations is 20°C, whereas this report suggests 21°C is more appropriate for household cooling.

The complete bins are presented in Appendix 5 with a summary of the results below.


Figure 9: Rockhampton heating and cooling requirement frequencies

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‘Hot/humid’ Rockhampton Heating 720 Hours / Cooling 5180 Hours (106 HDD15°C / 1074 CDD21°C)

Figure 10: Richmond heating and cooling requirement frequencies

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Figure 11: Canberra heating and cooling requirement frequencies

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33 °C

35 °C

37 °C

39 °C

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

Canberra 15°C heating / 21° cooling

°C bins

Freq

uenc

y

‘Cold’ Canberra Heating 5094 Hours / Cooling 1168 Hours (1456 HDD15°C / 210 CDD21°C)


Climate zonesThis project focused on producing a three zone climate map for the purposes of comparing air-cooled air-conditioners targeted at the domestic residential market in Australia and New Zealand. It is most applicable to existing buildings rather than new houses with building energy efficiency requirements, noting that this covers the vast majority of current building stock in both countries.

On the basis of conventional brick-veneer single-story dwellings common in the suburbs of Australia and New Zealand, the present analysis has found that it is possible to separate the range of climates into three broad classification zones. This zoning analysis was conducted on the basis that most existing housing stock are uninsulated as was common in dwellings constructed before the advent of energy efficiency provisions in building codes. This meant the base temperature of heating degree days was taken to be 15°C, while the base temperature of cooling degree days was taken to be 21°C. These are the base temperatures that should be incorporated into the local adoption of ISO16358. The temperature bins developed for this report are based on these base temperatures.

This can probably be considered a worst case scenario for the calculation of climate energy performance when considering a new home. It is therefore recommended that further work to supplement this report focus on allowing consumers to access both the closest specific HERS climate data and individually specified building load calculators, possibly through future development of online communication tools to supplement any label.

Representative climate bin data are presented on the basis of three discrete Australian Bureau of Meteorology weather stations which are a subset of the Australian Climate Data Bank (ACDB) funded by the Nationwide Household Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS):

• Rockhampton is a justified representative of the ‘hot-humid’ zone that is a compromise between the milder population centres to the south and tropical locations to the north

• Richmond is a population-weighted representative of the ‘mixed’ heating and cooling zone.

• Canberra meets the requirements of a suitable representative of the ’cold’ zone and alpine frosting of evaporator coils.

The appropriateness of these zones and reference climate locations should be assessed for other climate influenced appliances. For example, further analysis is required to confirm if mains water temperature is well correlated to the monthly average earth temperatures detailed in EnergyPlus format climate files, and to explore behavioural variability in demand for residential hot water. Additional analysis is required to develop solar zones for solar hot water heating systems. The information presented here would also need further analysis for any future evaporative cooling work but should provide a solid basis for any such project.


6. Report conclusions

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Handbooks. www.ashrae.org/resources--publications/handbook

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2013 - Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy

Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) 2006. Protocol for house energy rating software 2006.1. Australian Building Codes Board, Canberra.

de Dear, R. and Hart, M. 2002. Appliance Electricity End-Use: Weather and Climate Sensitivity. Published by the Sustainable Energy Group, Australian Greenhouse Office, Canberra.

ISO 16358:2013 Air-cooled air conditioners and air-to-air heat pumps – Testing and calculating methods for seasonal performance factors.

Kjelgaard, MJ 2001 “Engineering Weather Data” published by McGraw Hill Professional Reference

Renne, D. S.; Wilcox, S.; Marion, W.; Maxwell, G. L.; Rymes, M.; and Phillips, J. (2007) Availability of Renewable Resources, In Frank Kreith and D Yogi Goswami (eds) Handbook of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. CRC Press, Boca Raton.

Sweeney Research Pty Ltd, Energy Labels Testing, http://www.energyrating.gov.au/about/energy-rating-labels/climate-label/documents-and-publications/?viewPublicationID=2755, 2013.


7. References

http://www.energyrating.gov.au/about/energy-rating-labels/climate-label/documents-and-publications/?viewPublicationID=2755

http://www.energyrating.gov.au/about/energy-rating-labels/climate-label/documents-and-publications/?viewPublicationID=2755

http://www.ashrae.org/resources--publications/handbook

Analysis of climate variables was conducted using the EnergyPlus reference files for 69 Australian NatHERS ABCB (2005) zones and 18 New Zealand HERS zones. These are published at the worldwide repository maintained by the US Department of Energy with contributions of RMY files from NatHERS and NIWA files from EECA: http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energyplus/weatherdata_sources.cfm

EnergyPlus format RMY files are Australia Representative Meteorological Year developed for the Australia Greenhouse Office for use in complying with the Building Code of Australia1.

TMY2 files were produced by New Zealand National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA) for the New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) Home Energy Rating Scheme (HERS). These climate data consist of hourly records for an artificial year created from twelve representative months.2

Bin data has been extracted from the April 2013 draft of the NatHERS Climate Files 2012 developed by NIWA for the NatHERS Administrator to expand resolution to more than 80 base stations. These data were used to develop the Australian HVAC design data website http://uq.id.au/e.peterson/ previously supplied under contract between the Commonwealth of Australia and the consortium of University of Queensland and NIWA, and currently under peer-review by the Australian Institution of Refrigeration, Air-conditioning and Heating for possible inclusion in the next revision of Design Aid 9 – originally published by Commonwealth Works.

The present report analyses the RMY files of the 2006 ACDB and NIWA 2008 TMY2 weather data for New Zealand. Each one is a compilation of 8760 hours of coincident data that best represent the annals of weather data as a standard for building energy simulation adopted in most developed countries. Only the files served by the US Department of Energy with the open standard of EnergyPlus Weather Data were used. Therefore the methods developed in the present report can be adopted by other users of ISO 16358-1, -2, and -3 in the rating of air conditioners for HVAC systems.

New updated TMY files were released upon selection of the three representative stations Rockhampton, Richmond, and Canberra. These files were then readily analysed with Microsoft Excel. It is envisaged that the updated 2012 NatHERS Climate RMY files associated with the current 69 zone map will be released in early 2014 on the NatHERS website. No changes to the NatHERS map are anticipated until 2015 at the earliest.

Kjelgaard (2001) advises how TMY data are used in the design of buildings and HVAC systems in cities with different climates. Worldwide, TMY files are generally produced by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) to provide bin data such as can be used to calculate ice-build-up degree-hours, while ASHRAE has derived design conditions such as the outdoor temperature that is exceeded 99% of hours (99% DBT). Bin data are also used to make business cases for all sorts of energy efficiency initiatives.

Kjelgaard defines bin data as “Weather data, used for energy consumption calculations, where every hour in the year that falls within the range is included in the appropriate bin. Usually includes the average (mean coincident) wet bulb or dew point temperature coinciding with each value in the bin.” Bin data derived from hourly temperature and humidity readings for a typical meteorological year (TMY) compiled by NREL (1995) derived from 1961-1990, Golden, CO. “TMY data are often used as the source of hourly data for many popular building energy analysis software programs.” Typical reference year (TRY)

1 The 69 RMY data files are © 2006 Commonwealth of Australia, Department of the Environment and Water Resources, Australia Greenhouse Office, Canberra, ACT, Australia.2 Liley, J Ben, Hisako Shiona, James Sturman, David S Wratt. 2008 “Typical Meteorological Years for the New Zealand Home Energy Rating Scheme”. Prepared for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. NIWA Client Report: LAU2008-01-JBL. NIWA, Omakau, New Zealand.


Appendix 1: Information on data sources

was used where TMY data were not available in foreign cities, but Carrier also provided TMY files for some cities outside the USA. Note that TRY is the most typical consecutive 12 month period. Kjelgaard provides detailed bin data for North America based on the TMY and an assortment of international locations with a mixture of TMY and TRY files, extracting bins into three 8-hour segments of the diurnal cycle (1 through 8 AM; 9 AM through 4 PM; 5 PM through midnight) and also totals (24 hrs). In the present report it was decided to provide 24 hour bins without bias with respect to the time of use. Kjelgaard also presents TABLE 1 data to inform the design of HVAC plant (reproduced from ASHRAE Handbooks), being Cooling 0.4%, 1%, 2% dry bulb with mean coincident wet bulb and also wet bulb 0.4%, 1%, 2% wet bulb with mean coincident dry bulb.

The posting of newer TMY2 files at the EnergyPlus weather data website has been augmented with the RMY contribution from NatHERS in 2006 and the TMY2 files from NIWA that were contributed by EECA in 2006. The repository has continued to grow with:

• California Climate Zones 2 (CTZ2)• Canadian Weather for Energy Calculations (CWEC)• Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)• City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK)• Chinese Standard Weather Data (CSWD)• Egyptian Typical Meteorological Year (ETMY)• IMGW Weather data set for Poland• IMS Weather Data for Israel• INETI Synthetic data for Portugal• Indian Weather Data (ISHRAE)• ITMY (Iran Typical Meteorological Year) Data• International Weather for Energy Calculations (IWEC)• Kuwait Weather Data from Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR)• Spanish Weather for Energy Calculations (SWEC)• Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA)

Renne, et al. (2007) explains YMY2 was derived from version 1.1 of the National Solar Radiation Database. This provides a standard for solar hourly data for solar radiation and other meteorological elements. They should be used with caution for components and system design because they represent typical rather than extreme conditions.


Table 2: Heating and Cooling Degree Days – 28 original ABCB 2005 zones

BoM Station Stars Heating Cooling 12HDD 15HDD 18HDD 18CDD 21CDD 24CDD

Darwin 0.6 0 834 0 0 2 3411 2337 1343

Port Headland 0.6 5 621 7 43 139 2887 1990 1228

Longreach 0.5 50 589 78 195 400 2548 1764 1119

Carnarvon 1.4 33 128 30 109 279 1570 818 332

Townsville 0 8 351 9 35 100 2311 1369 618

Alice Springs 0.8 149 446 288 519 856 2007 1378 884

Rockhampton 0 34 328 30 111 292 1777 1016 469

Moree 0.8 211 297 312 610 1040 1314 797 433

Amberley 0.6 119 269 213 419 749 1350 751 361

Brisbane 1 85 111 74 210 482 1153 543 183

Coffs Harbour 1.1 121 98 116 291 649 819 331 90

Geraldton 1.1 112 160 98 298 677 1106 597 298

Perth 1.1 173 192 152 420 911 916 523 282

Armidale 1.4 452 105 744 1307 2058 374 169 61

Williamtown 1.3 195 114 187 476 969 734 345 141

Adelaide KT 1.4 229 175 204 577 1181 818 498 289

Sydney 1 111 115 66 246 632 768 327 101

Nowra 1.4 267 90 271 651 1250 502 224 94

Charleville 0.8 144 312 257 480 816 1821 1193 712

Wagga 1.4 406 163 625 1127 1780 727 415 218

Melbourne 1.6 354 79 276 761 1506 400 216 112

East Sale 1.5 451 72 557 1154 1960 261 114 49

Launceston TT 1.7 546 28 726 1382 2223 186 61 13

Canberra 1.4 552 112 889 1507 2298 387 200 90

Cabramurra 1.7 1063 21 1853 2684 3634 97 31 6

Hobart 1.7 542 10 571 1241 2144 124 44 14

Mildura 1.3 275 197 374 780 1349 958 577 319

Richmond 1 235 199 339 684 1214 742 376 173

Table 2 shows Heating and Cooling Degree Days with different base temperatures for the 28 original ABCB 2005 zones. Base temperatures of 15HDD and 21CDD were deemed most appropriate by this study. The column ‘Stars’ refers to the NatHERS rating that the model home would receive at each location.


Appendix 2: Heating and cooling loads

Table 3: Heating and Cooling Degree Days – 41 additional ABCB 2006 zones

BoM Station Stars Heating Cooling 12HDD 15HDD 18HDD 18CDD 21CDD 24CDD

Weipa 0 0 842 0 0 3 3042 1982 1036

Wyndham 0.7 0 1143 0 2 11 4190 3129 2133

Willis Island 0 0 447 0 0 0 2961 1863 816

Cairns 0 1 346 0 4 23 2402 1405 625

Broome 0.6 2 707 6 29 91 3134 2177 1330

Learmonth 0.8 11 454 8 61 203 2348 1533 915

Mackay 0 11 284 6 35 131 1880 1026 404

Gladstone 0.6 15 195 3 26 142 1643 850 325

Halls Creek 0.5 5 744 6 39 124 3196 2267 1460

Tennant Creek 0.6 8 598 4 38 134 3038 2138 1358

Mount Isa 0.5 34 607 56 153 328 2718 1890 1187

Newman 0.7 52 525 102 241 466 2702 1936 1299

Giles 1 75 341 130 297 570 2327 1627 1058

Meekatharra 1 74 284 79 251 556 2096 1448 935

Oodnadatta 0.9 103 412 165 362 677 2109 1467 962

Kalgoorlie 1.2 174 184 276 579 1056 1150 698 394

Woomera 1.1 169 244 204 491 942 1392 900 540

Cobar 1 207 247 296 626 1098 1280 802 462

Bickley 1.4 266 146 284 711 1348 646 352 175

Dubbo 1.3 307 142 467 870 1432 814 442 209

Katanning 1.2 283 208 359 829 1520 606 352 190

Oakey 1 192 197 308 585 1018 1005 536 253

Forrest 1.2 185 176 308 648 1183 1013 633 383

Swanbourne 1.4 121 67 82 277 710 726 318 116

Ceduna 1.4 221 116 274 618 1188 706 393 227

Mandurah 1.3 144 149 128 378 862 806 421 200

Esperance 1.7 215 49 162 505 1104 425 183 88

Mascot 1.3 163 84 119 353 798 656 253 76

Manjimup 1.6 351 96 378 921 1689 381 197 93

Albany 1.6 313 39 256 721 1467 256 101 37

Mount Lofty 1.8 699 39 967 1741 2641 199 90 32

Tullamarine 1.7 445 67 490 1084 1880 369 197 101

Mt Gambier 1.6 491 58 569 1223 2081 266 136 65

Moorabbin 1.8 414 45 392 962 1757 302 148 74

Warrnambool 1.7 496 48 510 1170 2055 191 98 50

Cape Otway 1.9 397 34 212 795 1661 188 100 49

Orange 1.7 713 39 1159 1863 2731 184 65 14

Ballarat 1.7 621 64 837 1532 2366 330 168 77

Low Head 1.8 403 6 333 892 1721 83 5 0

Launceston 1.7 656 9 903 1642 2556 126 41 9

Thredbo Valley 1.6 937 47 1614 2425 3352 148 57 17

Table 3 shows Heating and Cooling Degree Days with different base temperatures for the 41 additional ACDB 2006 zones. Base temperatures of 15HDD and 21CDD were deemed most


appropriate by this study. The column ‘Stars’ refers to the NatHERS rating that the model home would receive at each location.


Dew Point Temperature (DPT)Dew point temperature (DPT) is a measure of the amount of moisture dissolved into the atmosphere. It is the temperature to which air must be cooled in order to reach saturation. A high dew point indicates that the air is laden with water vapour. Dew may form when the condensing surface has a temperature below the dew point of the air, and frost may form when that surface has a temperature below zero.

Apparatus Dew Point (ADP) An air conditioning apparatus, such as a refrigerant evaporator coil, is actively cooled and controlled to maintain a desired apparatus dew point (ADP). Apparatus surfaces with a temperature below the dew point temperature will become covered in liquid water or frost. Frosting occurs in cases where the ADP is below zero.

Assessing frosting potentialIn earlier editions of ASHRAE’s HVAC Handbooks, evaporator coil frosting was said to be an issue from zero to +4°C (DB), but understanding of this technology has since improved. The 2008 ASHRAE HVAC Systems and Equipment Handbook, Chapter 48 UNITARY AIR CONDITIONERS AND HEAT PUMPS, advises “During colder outdoor temperatures, usually below 5 to 10°C, and high relative humidities (above 50%), the outdoor coil operates below the frost point of the outside air.” More recently, ISO16358-2 (2013) has defined the frosting range as -7 to +5.5°C. In the present report the limit of frosting concern has been set at +5°C, but it is possible that lower quality evaporators may frost at higher ambient conditions.

Frost build-up on cooling coils may coincide with dew point temperatures a couple of degrees above zero. This is because heat transfer increases with the enthalpy-difference between the ambient atmosphere and the apparatus. In order to classify the zones where evaporator coils are prone to ice build-up, the apparatus dew point (APD) has been assumed to be a constant 5°C (DB) below the ambient outdoor condition. Consequently “Ice-build-up” degree-hours have been calculated and presented in Figures 1 and 2 from the following equation:

“Ice-build-up” = DPT – ADP = 5°C + DPT – DB subject to two conditions:

A. Icing will not occur above 5°C ambient DB (although liquid condensate may occur)B. Icing will not occur if DPT is more than 5°C below DB (condition of cold dry air

outside)

The sum of the quantity of qualified ice-build-up (5°C + DPT – DB) was taken from each of the 8760 hour weather data files representing the 69 Australian NatHERS and the 18 New Zealand HERS climate zones.

The results of the analysis in this report also showed that the cut-off temperature, or ‘heating design temperature’ at the point that the frost build-up threshold was set (60 “ice build-up degree-days”), corresponds to the outdoor temperature that is exceeded all but 1% per year. Ice build-up can occur in warmer locations, such as at Richmond, but heaters there are not required to operate more than 1% of the year at ambient conditions below 2°C.


Appendix 3: Evaporator coil frosting analysis – a further explanation

Analysis of all Australian and New Zealand HERS zones

The results of the analysis for all Australian and New Zealand HERS zones are summarised below. The ‘Findings’ column refers to the following key:

Frost = high frost potential (Frost DD5 ≥ 60) Heating load = Annual conditioning load >67% heating Cooling load = Annual conditioning load >67% cooling Mixed load = Annual heating load 33-66% Humid = High humidity renders direct evaporative cooling ineffectiveOther = see Notes column

Table 4: HERS zones analysis summary

HERS ID

PLACENAME Frost DD5

Heating percentage

Findings Seasonal zone Notes

1 Darwin Airport 0 0.0% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

2 Port Hedland Airport 0 2.1% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

3 Longreach Aero 0 10.0% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

4 Carnarvon Airport 0 11.8% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

5 Townsville Aero 0 2.5% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

6 Alice Springs 28 27.4% Cooling load, other Mixed Hot, but not humid, so direct evaporative coolers are suitable.

7 Rockhampton Aero 0 9.8% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

8 Moree Aero 42 43.4% Mixed load Mixed

9 Amberley 41 35.8% Humid, mixed load, other Mixed Amberley doesn’t have the high % cooling load that categorises the hot/humid zone, but it does have high humidity. As heating can still be an important component of consumers’ requirements in this location, and temperatures often fall into the critical coil frosting range, an ‘all-rounder’ air conditioner would be most suitable; hence it has been classified as ‘mixed’. This will also leave a transition of this mixed zone between the cold zone region 14 and the hot/humid zone 10 of Brisbane.

10 Brisbane 5 27.9% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

11 Coffs Harbour 13 46.8% Mixed load Mixed


Appendix 4: HERS zone analysis

HERS ID

PLACENAME Frost DD5

Heating percentage


12 Geraldton Airport 2 33.3% Mixed load Mixed Conditions nearly classed as Hot, but not humid.

13 Perth Airport 7 44.5% Mixed load Mixed

14 Armidale Airport 2 88.6% Heating load Cold Postcode 4380 Stanthorpe QLD) was added to this Climate Region. NatHERS currently has its Principal Climate Region as 5 (Townsville) with an Alternative Region of Armidale. This is considered a mistake; hence it was reassigned to Armidale.

15 Williamtown RAAF 13 58.0% Mixed load Mixed

16 Adelaide-Kent Town 6 53.7% Mixed load Mixed

17 Sydney 0 42.9% Mixed load Mixed

18 Nowra RAN Air Station 16 74.4% Heating load Cold

19 Charleville Aero 26 28.7% Cooling load, other Mixed Hot, but not humid, so direct evaporative coolers are suitable.

20 Wagga Wagga 101 73.1% Heating load, Frost Cold

21 Melbourne 8 77.9% Heating load Cold

22 East Sale Airport 82 91.0% Heating load, Frost Cold

23 Launceston-Ti Tree Bend 63 95.8% Heating load, Frost Cold

24 Canberra Airport 149 88.3% Heating load, Frost Cold

25 Cabramurra 506 98.9% Heating load, Frost Cold

26 Hobart-Ellerslie Rd 36 96.6% Heating load Cold

27 Mildura Airport 42 57.5% Mixed load Mixed

28 Richmond RAAF 57 64.5% Mixed load Mixed

29 Weipa Aero 0 0.0% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

30 Wyndham 0 0.1% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

31 Willis Island 0 0.0% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

32 Cairns Aero 0 0.3% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

33 Broome Airport 0 1.3% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

34 Learmonth Airport 0 3.8% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid


HERS ID

PLACENAME Frost DD5

Heating percentage


35 Mackay 0 3.3% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

36 Gladstone Airport 0 3.0% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

37 Halls Creek Airport 0 1.7% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

38 Tennant Creek 0 1.7% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

39 Mount Isa Aero 0 7.5% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

40 Newman Airport 1 11.1% Cooling load, humid Hot/humid

41 Giles 4 15.4% Cooling load, other Mixed Hot, but not humid, so direct evaporative coolers are suitable.

42 Meekatharra Airport 0 14.8% Cooling load, other Mixed Hot, but not humid, so direct evaporative coolers are suitable.

43 Oodnadatta Airport 2 19.8% Cooling load, other Mixed Hot, but not humid, so direct evaporative coolers are suitable.

44 Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport

27 45.3% Mixed load

45 Woomera Aerodrome 4 35.3% Mixed load Mixed

46 Cobar 23 43.8% Mixed load Mixed

47 Kalamunda-Bickley 12 66.9% Heating load Cold

48 Dubbo Airport 75 66.3% Heating load, Frost, other

Cold Includes postcode 2831 which has a Principal location of Cobar and an Alternative of the surrounding zone of Dubbo.

49 Katanning 39 70.2% Heating load Cold

50 Oakey Aero 47 52.2% Mixed load Mixed

51 Forrest (WA) 31 50.6% Mixed load Mixed

52 Swanbourne 1 46.6% Mixed load Mixed

53 Ceduna 30 61.1% Mixed load Mixed

54 Mandurah 6 47.3% Mixed load Mixed

55 Esperance 2 73.4% Heating load Cold

56 Mascot-Sydney Airport 2 58.3% Mixed load Mixed

57 Manjimup 18 82.4% Heating load Cold

58 Albany Airport 6 87.7% Heating load Cold

59 Mt Lofty (SA) 82 95.1% Heating load, Frost Cold


HERS ID

PLACENAME Frost DD5

Heating percentage


60 Tullamarine-Melbourne Airport

28 84.6% Heating load Cold

61 Mount Gambier Aero 49 90.0% Heating load Cold

62 Moorabbin Airport 19 86.7% Heating load Cold

63 Warrnambool Airport 37 92.3% Heating load Cold

64 Cape Otway Lighthouse 0 88.8% Heating load Cold

65 Orange Airport 266 96.6% Heating load, Frost Cold

66 Ballarat Aerodrome 120 90.1% Heating load, Frost Cold

67 Low Head (Tas) 16 99.4% Heating load Cold

68 Launceston Airport 133 97.6% Heating load, Frost Cold

69 Thredbo Village 303 97.7% Heating load, Frost Cold

101 Northland-Kaitaia 3 92.5% Heating load Cold

102 Auckland-Auckland 4 91.6% Heating load Cold

103 Waikato-Hamilton 97 95.5% Heating load, Frost Cold

104 Bay of Plenty-Tauranga 20 92.6% Heating load Cold

105 Rotorua-Rotorua 90 98.5% Heating load, Frost Cold

106 Taupo King Country-Turangi

161 98.1% Heating load, Frost Cold

107 Taranaki-New Plymouth 25 98.7% Heating load Cold

108 East Coast-Napier 52 93.1% Heating load Cold

109 Manawatu-Paraparaumu 41 99.3% Heating load Cold

110 Wairarapa-Masterton 150 95.7% Heating load, Frost Cold

111 Wellington-Wellington 10 99.4% Heating load Cold

112 Nelson Marlborough-Nelson


113 West Coast-Hokitika 92 99.7% Heating load, Frost Cold

114 Canterbury-Christchurch 158 96.7% Heating load, Frost Cold

115 Queenstown Lakes-Queenstown



HERS ID

PLACENAME Frost DD5

Heating percentage


116 Central Otago-Lauder 310 97.9% Heating load, Frost Cold

117 Otago-Dunedin 71 99.5% Heating load, Frost Cold

118 Southland-Invercargill 129 99.7% Heating load, Frost Cold


Table 5:

Rockhampton Heating Bins (106 degree-days with base 15°C)

15°C heating 740 hrs

j Bin fraction nj

1 -10°C 0.000 0

2 -9°C 0.000 0

3 -8°C 0.000 0

4 -7°C 0.000 0

5 -6°C 0.000 0

6 -5°C 0.000 0

7 -4°C 0.000 0

8 -3°C 0.000 0

9 -2°C 0.000 0

10 -1°C 0.000 0

11 0°C 0.000 0

12 1°C 0.000 0

13 2°C 0.000 0

14 3°C 0.000 0

15 4°C 0.004 3

16 5°C 0.018 13

17 6°C 0.020 15

18 7°C 0.043 32

19 8°C 0.049 36

20 9°C 0.072 53

21 10°C 0.097 72

22 11°C 0.108 80

23 12°C 0.128 95

24 13°C 0.158 117

25 14°C 0.303 224


Appendix 5: ISO16358 Temperature bin data

Table 6: Rockhampton Cooling Bins (1074 degree-days with base 21°C)

21°C cooling 5180 hrs

j Bin fraction nj

1 22°C 0.122 632

2 23°C 0.135 698

3 24°C 0.125 647

4 25°C 0.125 646

5 26°C 0.112 582

6 27°C 0.092 478

7 28°C 0.076 394

8 29°C 0.070 365

9 30°C 0.051 262

10 31°C 0.037 193

11 32°C 0.021 108

12 33°C 0.017 86

13 34°C 0.007 38

14 35°C 0.003 18

15 36°C 0.002 11

16 37°C 0.004 19

17 38°C 0.001 3

18 39°C 0.000 0

19 40°C 0.000 0

20 41°C 0.000 0


Table 7: Richmond Heating Bins (675 degree-days with base 15°C)


j Bin fraction nj

below 0

1 -10°C 0.000 0

2 -9°C 0.000 0

3 -8°C 0.000 0

4 -7°C 0.000 0

5 -6°C 0.000 0

6 -5°C 0.000 0

7 -4°C 0.000 0

8 -3°C 0.000 0

9 -2°C 0.000 0

10 -1°C 0.000 1

11 0°C 0.002 7

12 1°C 0.010 31

13 2°C 0.014 44

14 3°C 0.033 105

15 4°C 0.035 112

16 5°C 0.034 109

17 6°C 0.047 153

18 7°C 0.064 207

19 8°C 0.064 208

20 9°C 0.084 272

21 10°C 0.090 289

22 11°C 0.100 322

23 12°C 0.124 400

24 13°C 0.147 475

25 14°C 0.152 490


Table 8: Richmond Cooling Bins (416 degree-days with base 21°C)


j Bin fraction nj

1 22°C 0.176 354

2 23°C 0.154 310

3 24°C 0.108 218

4 25°C 0.109 220

5 26°C 0.082 164

6 27°C 0.084 170

7 28°C 0.062 125

8 29°C 0.053 107

9 30°C 0.041 83

10 31°C 0.030 61

11 32°C 0.019 39

12 33°C 0.017 35

13 34°C 0.018 36

14 35°C 0.011 23

15 36°C 0.009 18

16 37°C 0.010 21

17 38°C 0.004 8

18 39°C 0.002 4

19 40°C 0.001 3

20 41°C 0.001 2

21 42°C 0.001 2

22 43°C 0.002 4

23 44°C 0.002 5

24 45°C 0 0


Table 9: Canberra Heating Bins (1456 degree-days with base 15°C)


j Bin fraction nj

below 0

1 -10°C 0.000 0

2 -9°C 0.000 0

3 -8°C 0.000 0

4 -7°C 0.000 0

5 -6°C 0.000 0

6 -5°C 0.002 9

7 -4°C 0.004 20

8 -3°C 0.008 42

9 -2°C 0.013 67

10 -1°C 0.018 90

11 0°C 0.022 111

12 1°C 0.029 149

13 2°C 0.024 123

14 3°C 0.036 182

15 4°C 0.048 243

16 5°C 0.053 270

17 6°C 0.065 331

18 7°C 0.080 409

19 8°C 0.072 367

20 9°C 0.082 420

21 10°C 0.091 462

22 11°C 0.092 471

23 12°C 0.077 393

24 13°C 0.095 483

25 14°C 0.089 452


Table 10: Canberra Cooling Bins (210 degree-days with base 21°C)


j Bin fraction nj

1 22°C 0.175 204

2 23°C 0.164 192

3 24°C 0.134 156

4 25°C 0.131 153

5 26°C 0.112 131

6 27°C 0.079 92

7 28°C 0.057 66

8 29°C 0.050 58

9 30°C 0.027 31

10 31°C 0.018 21

11 32°C 0.023 27

12 33°C 0.020 23

13 34°C 0.010 12

14 35°C 0.002 2

15 36°C 0.000 0

16 37°C 0.000 0

17 38°C 0.000 0

18 39°C 0.000 0

19 40°C 0.000 0

20 41°C 0.000 0


A joint initiative of Australian, State and Territory and New Zealand Governments

Climate Zone Mapping for Air Conditioners and Heat Pump Devices

www.energyrating.gov.au

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