Analysis and Improvement of the Thermal Behavior of Social Houses in Northern Argentina Through Transient Thermal Simulation

The analysis of the winter and summer thermal behavior of a low-income dwelling, built by Provincial Institute of Dwelling in Salta, is presented. For both orientations of the major axis, the mean indoor temperatures in winter were around 14°C with a daily thermal swing between 5°C and 10°C, values that are outside the comfort area. Thus, auxiliary conventional heating is needed during all the day. In summer, the dwellings are almost all the day outside the comfort area, with indoor temperatures higher than outdoor air and thermal swings between 7°C and 10°C. Clearly there is a lack of storage mass to moderate the internal air swing. A set of alternatives to improve the indoor thermal comfort was analyzed. The program SIMEDIF for Windows was used to simulate the hourly thermal behavior of the dwelling.