Upon our first visit to the Watzek House, we were immediately struck by both its high level of craftsmanship and  our lack of thermal comfort. We were curious as to why the latter was so and why particular rooms were noticeably colder than others.  We discussed the different factors which contribute to the thermal characteristics of the house and decided our focus would be on infiltration¹ and conduction through the building envelope. It seemed that the house was old, yet well constructed,  and we were curious as to how much heat was lost due to air leaking out of (or into) the building, as opposed to the amount of heat that was lost through conduction.
    Rather than attempting to  analyze the entire house, which would have been too large of a task for two people, we focused on two particular rooms.  We decided to focus on the living room and dining room for various reasons.  First, the thermal comfort we experienced between the two rooms was so great as to be remarked on by nearly everyone in the class.  Secondly, since other groups were focusing their efforts on these rooms, any data we collected could be compared to the data gathered by other groups more easily and accurately.  Together our teams could give a more detailed analysis of the building.
 
 
 
 
 

1)     Heat lost through infiltration is heat that finds a way out through gaps or cracks in the building because of the temperature pressure difference.  Heat lost through conduction ,is heat that is lost through the windows because glass doesn't have much insulating value.

jennyk@darkwing.uoregon.edu	ahill@gladstone.uoregon.edu