Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “RESIDENTIAL”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Probabilistic modeling of the indoor climates of residential buildings using EnergyPlus

The indoor air temperature and relative humidity in residential buildings significantly affect material moisture durability, HVAC system performance, and occupant comfort. Therefore, indoor climate data is generally required to define boundary conditions in numerical models that evaluate envelope durability and equipment performance. However, indoor climate data obtained from field studies is influenced by weather, occupant behavior and internal loads, and is generally unrepresentative of the residential building stock. Likewise, whole-building simulation models typically neglect stochastic variables and yield deterministic results that are applicable to only a single home in a specific climate. The

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Zero-CO Residential Natural Gas Furnace

Residential natural gas furnaces are widely used in the US homes. Manufacturers dedicate significant design and testing resources to meet requirements of design standards. One area of these standards is controlling flue gas carbon monoxide (CO) emissions. To more effectively reduce CO emissions at the flue, we developed a novel catalyst-assisted approach that integrated a low Pt/Rh loading acidic gas reduction (AGR) catalyst with three-way catalyst (TWC) or diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) components. Compact catalysts were fabricated and assembled into tubular components, which can be seamlessly incorporated into the primary heat exchanger of a representative commercially available condensing furnace. The retrofitted furnace was demonstrated and tested following ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-2017. Experimental results showed that both AGR/TWC and AGR/DOC configurations achieved near-zero CO emissions under steady-state and cold-start conditions, compared with up to 500 ppm at a cold start and 17 ppm in a steady state in the OEM furnace. The catalyst-assisted furnaces also exhibited an annual fuel utilization efficiency improvement of more than 1.5% relative to the baseline unit, with a manageable pressure drop of 2.0−2.5 in. of water column. These results demonstrate that the catalyst-assisted approach can effectively eliminate CO emissions and improve energy efficiency. The technology has broad applicability for residential and commercial gas-fired heating systems.

Gao, Zhiming [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000271397995)↗
DOE OSTI2026

Understanding the Costs and Barriers of Residential Electrical Panel and Service Upgrades

Upgrading electrical panels and services in U.S. homes represents a significant barrier to building modernization, imposing considerable costs, delays, and procedural uncertainties on homeowners, contractors, utilities, and building departments. Although cost databases document individual infrastructure activities, they rarely capture the integrated, whole-project perspective required to understand how electrical upgrades are planned, executed, and regulated. Existing research is often geographically constrained, narrowly scoped, or derived from limited samples, leaving significant knowledge gaps unaddressed. This study examines the timelines and costs associated with residential electrical panel and service upgrades using data from a national cross- sectional survey conducted in summer 2025. The survey captured responses from 140 stakeholders across 34 states, including building industry professionals, utility staff, and building department staff. Findings indicate that project duration and cost increase substantially with building size though patterns vary by infrastructure type. Most single-family and small multifamily projects were completed within 30 days, whereas medium and large multifamily buildings show longer and less predictable timelines. Service rating increases modestly extend project duration, but building type and size were the primary determinants of delays. Cost patterns were similar: customer-side equipment and panel replacements scale predictably with building size, while utility-side costs are highly variable, often triggered by threshold-driven infrastructure upgrades such as transformer replacements. Permit fees vary considerably between jurisdictions but generally represent a minor proportion of total project costs. These findings identify electrical upgrades as a significant barrier to residential building costs and highlight the need for improved stakeholder coordination, streamlined permitting, and strategies that reduce upgrade requirements while maintaining safety and code compliance.

Casquero-Modrego, Nuria↗
DOE OSTI2026

Evaluation of a Smoke Opacity Sensor for Improving Residential Wood Heater Combustion

Residential wood heating lacks real-time particulate matter (PM) monitoring technologies capable of measuring emissions directly from flue gases. This study evaluates the performance of the Octoring, an opacity-based smoke sensor developed to monitor wood heater emissions and provide feedback for improved combustion. The device was tested on catalytic and non-catalytic cordwood heaters and a pellet heater during startup, high-burn, and low-burn phases. Performance was assessed against reference particle instruments and gravimetric measurements using concordance, correlation, and agreement analyses. Results show that temperature-dependent drift is the primary limitation affecting sensor accuracy, with systematic drift observed across ambient and combustion conditions. Agreement with reference instruments ranged from poor to good depending on operating conditions, with the strongest performance observed during pellet heater high-burn operation. These findings establish a performance baseline for opacity-based sensing technologies and identify key areas for further development before practical deployment in residential wood combustion monitoring systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

Feasibility of Wind to Serve Upper Skagit’s Bow Hill Tribal Lands and Feasibility Update for Residential Renewable Energy

A two year wind resource assessment was conducted to determine the feasibility of developing a community scale wind generation system for the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe's Bow Hill land base, and the project researched residential wind resource technologies to determine the feasibility of contributing renewable wind resource to the mix of energy options for our single and multi-family residential units.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Impacts of Water Quality on Residential Water Heating Equipment

Water heating is a ubiquitous energy use in all residential housing, accounting for 17.7% of residential energy use (EIA 2012). Today, there are many efficient water heating options available for every fuel type, from electric and gas to more unconventional fuel types like propane, solar, and fuel oil. Which water heating option is the best choice for a given household will depend on a number of factors, including average daily hot water use (total gallons per day), hot water draw patterns (close together or spread out), the hot water distribution system (compact or distributed), installation constraints (such as space, electrical service, or venting accommodations) and fuel-type availability and cost. While in general more efficient water heaters are more expensive than conventional water heating technologies, the savings in energy use and, thus, utility bills can recoup the additional upfront investment and make an efficient water heater a good investment over time in most situations, although the specific payback period for a given installation will vary widely. However, the expected lifetime of a water heater in a given installation can dramatically influence the cost effectiveness and savings potential of a water heater and should be considered, along with water use characteristics, fuel availability and cost, and specific home characteristics when selecting the optimum water heating equipment for a particular installation. This report provides recommendations for selecting and maintaining water heating equipment based on local water quality characteristics.

Corrosion↗
DOE OSTI2014

Evaluation of Air Barriers for Residential Buildings

In this project we aimed to increase the knowledgebase on air barriers for residential buildings. To this end, we evaluated nine air barrier assemblies following a modified version of the ASTM E2357 Standard Test Method from the American Society for Testing and Materials. The assemblies included the eight air barrier types that are readily available in the US, even if some of these are currently mostly used in commercial construction. This decision was made because technologies that are utilized in the commercial sector may be adopted by residential builders in the future. We also followed ASTM Standard E283 to estimate the air leakage rates through flow paths that are typically found in walls before and after these were sealed following typical techniques. Assessed leakage paths included wall to foundation joints, as well as penetrations through air barrier systems due to PVC pipes, steel ducts, electrical outlets and brick ties. In addition to the gathered measurements, this report also includes recommendations and considerations on each of the air barrier types. Findings from this research will contribute to the improvement of construction practices that will help meet airtightness requirements set by building codes and programs that seek to reduce energy consumption in homes.

Air Barrier↗
DOE OSTI2014

Energy Impacts of Effective Range Hood Use for all U.S. Residential Cooking

Range hood use during residential cooking is essential to maintaining good indoor air quality. However, widespread use will impact the energy demand of the U.S. housing stock. This paper describes a modeling study to determine site energy, source energy, and consumer costs for comprehensive range hood use. To estimate the energy impacts for all 113 million homes in the U.S., we extrapolated from the simulation of a representative weighted sample of 50,000 virtual homes developed from the 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey database. A physics-based simulation model that considered fan energy, energy to condition additional incoming air, and the effect on home heating and cooling due to exhausting the heat from cooking was applied to each home. Hoods performing at a level common to hoods currently in U.S. homes would require 19?33 TWh [69?120 PJ] of site energy, 31?53 TWh [110-190 PJ] of source energy; and would cost consumers $1.2?2.1 billion (U.S.$2010) annually in the U.S. housing stock. The average household would spend less than $15 annually. Reducing required airflow, e.g. with designs that promote better pollutant capture has more energy saving potential, on average, than improving fan efficiency.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

U.S. residential consumer product information: Validation of methods for post-stratification weighting of Amazon Mechanical Turk surveys

We present two post-stratification weighting methods to validate survey data collected using Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT). Two surveys focused on appliance and consumer electronics devices were administered in the spring and summer of 2012 to each of approximately 3,000 U.S. households. Specifically, the surveys asked questions about residential refrigeration products, televisions (TVs) and set-top boxes (STBs). Filtered data were assigned weights using each of two weighting methods, termed “sequential” and “simultaneous,” by examining up to eight demographic variables (income, education, gender, race, Hispanic origin, number of occupants, ages of occupants, and geographic region) in comparison to reference U.S. demographic data from the 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). Five key questions from the surveys (number of refrigerators, number of freezers, number of TVs, number of STBs and primary service provider) were evaluated with a set of statistical tests to determine whether either method improved the agreement of AMT with reference data, and if so, which method was better. The statistical tests used were: differences in proportions, distributions of proportions (using Pearson’s chi-squared test), and differences in average numbers of devices as functions of all demographic variables. The results indicated that both methods generally improved the agreement between AMT and reference data, sometimes greatly, but that the simultaneous method was usually superior to the sequential method. Some differences in sample populations were found between the AMT and reference data. Differences in the proportion of STBs reflected large changes in the STB market since the time our reference data was acquired in 2009. Differences in the proportions of some primary service providers suggested real sample bias, with the possible explanation that AMT user are more likely to subscribe to providers who also provide home internet service. Differences in other variables, while statistically significant in some cases, were nonetheless considered to be minor. Depending on the intended purpose of the data collected using AMT, these biases may or may not be important; to correct them, additional questions and/or further post-survey adjustments could be employed. In general, based on the analysis methods and the sample datasets used in this study, AMT surveys appeared to provide useful data on appliance and consumer electronics devices.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

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.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Residential Variable-Capacity Heat Pumps Sized to Heating Loads

Variable capacity heat pumps are an emerging technology offering significant energy savings potential and improved efficiency. With conventional single-speed systems, it is important to appropriately size heat pumps for the cooling load as over-sizing would result in cycling and insufficient latent capacity required for humidity control. These appropriately sized systems are often under-sized for the heating load and require inefficient supplemental electric resistance heat to meet the heating demand. Variable capacity heat pumps address these shortcomings by providing an opportunity to intentionally size systems for the dominant heating season load without adverse effects of cycling or insufficient dehumidification in the cooling season. This intentionally-sized system could result in significant energy savings in the heating season, as the need for inefficient supplemental electric resistance heat is drastically reduced. This is a continuation of a study evaluating the energy consumption of variable capacity heat pumps installed in two unoccupied research homes in Farragut, a suburb of Knoxville, Tennessee. In this particular study, space conditioning systems are intentionally sized for the heating season loads to provide an opportunity to understand and evaluate the impact this would have on electric resistance heat use and dehumidification. The results and conclusions drawn through this research are valid and specific for portions of the Southeastern and Midwestern United States falling in the mixed-humid climate zone. While other regions in the U.S. do not experience this type of climate, this work provides a basis for, and can help understand the implications of other climate zones on residential space conditioning energy consumption. The data presented here will provide a framework for fine tuning residential building EnergyPlus models that are being developed.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reducing Residential Peak Electricity Demand with Mechanical Pre-Cooling of Building Thermal Mass

This study uses an advanced airflow, energy and humidity modelling tool to evaluate the potential for residential mechanical pre-cooling of building thermal mass to shift electricity loads away from the peak electricity demand period. The focus of this study is residential buildings with low thermal mass, such as timber-frame houses typical to the US. Simulations were performed for homes in 12 US DOE climate zones. The results show that the effectiveness of mechanical pre-cooling is highly dependent on climate zone and the selected pre-cooling strategy. The expected energy trade-off between cooling peak energy savings and increased off-peak energy use is also shown.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Energy and IAQ Implications of Residential Ventilation Cooling

This study evaluates the energy, humidity and indoor air quality (IAQ) implications of residential ventilation cooling in all U.S. IECC climate zones. A computer modeling approach was adopted, using an advanced residential building simulation tool with airflow, energy and humidity models. An economizer (large supply fan) was simulated to provide ventilation cooling while outdoor air temperatures were lower than indoor air temperatures (typically at night). The simulations were performed for a full year using one-minute time steps to allow for scheduling of ventilation systems and to account for interactions between ventilation and heating/cooling systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Using a Ventilation Controller to Optimize Residential Passive Ventilation For Energy and Indoor Air Quality

One way to reduce the energy impact of providing residential ventilation is to use passive and hybrid systems. However, these passive and hybrid (sometimes called mixed-mode) systems must still meet chronic and acute health standards for ventilation. This study uses a computer simulation approach to examine the energy and indoor air quality (IAQ) implications of passive and hybrid ventilation systems, in 16 California climate zones. Both uncontrolled and flow controlled passive stacks are assessed. A new hybrid ventilation system is outlined that uses an intelligent ventilation controller to minimise energy use, while ensuring chronic and acute IAQ standards are met. ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2010 – the United States standard for residential ventilation - is used as the chronic standard, and exposure limits for PM 2.5 , formaldehyde and NO 2 are used as the acute standards. The results show that controlled passive ventilation and hybrid ventilation can be used in homes to provide equivalent IAQ to continuous mechanical ventilation, for less use of energy.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2015

A Survey of State and Local PV Program Response to Financial Innovation and Disparate Federal Tax Treatment in the Residential PV Sector

High up-front costs and a lack of financing options have historically been the primary barriers to the adoption of photovoltaics (PV) in the residential sector. State clean energy funds, which emerged in a number of states from the restructuring of the electricity industry in the mid-to-late 1990s, have for many years attempted to overcome these barriers through PV rebate and, in some cases, loan programs. While these programs (rebate programs in particular) have been popular, the residential PV market in the United States only started to achieve significant scale in the last five years – driven in large part by an initial wave of financial innovation that led to the rise of third-party ownership.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Market Assessment for Residential Refrigerator-Freezer with Novel Rotating Heat Exchanger

Despite a steady record of energy efficiency improvements in residential refrigerators and freezers over recent decades, these products still account for 4% of the site energy consumption for the average U.S. household. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) – along with partners Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the University of Maryland – are pursuing further efficiency improvements in this market sector by using a novel/prototype rotating heat exchanger (RHX) based on a Sandia Cooler technology as an evaporator in a residential refrigerator-freezer. The purpose of this study is to investigate the market potential of refrigerator-freezer products equipped with RHX evaporators in the United States, including projections of maximum annual market share and unit shipments and maximum direct and indirect job creation.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗