CH-77-11-2 -- Variation of Infiltration Rate with Relative Humidity in a Frame Building PDF

During a period of several years, Honeywell has been studying residential heating andcooling systems in great detail. The measurement of infiltration rates is an important partof thif1 program. Humidification is also of major interest in this systems project. Duringthe course of the work an unexpected correlation between infiltration and inside relativehumidity emerged. After this was noticed, some tests for the next year were designed tostudy this specific hypothesis. Therefore, the two-year study was not as rigorous as onedesigned for the purpose at the outset. The observed results are being offered here becausethey indicate a significant energy saving benefit from increasing relative humidity abovethe normally low winter indoor RH. This is an important consideration in the general subjectof humidification especially with the need for energy conservation.

It is the authors' hope that others will perform corroborating experiments in thefuture.