Placement of condensing units of split-type air-conditioners at low-rise residences

This is a second paper on the use of air-conditioning plant room to house the condensing units of split-type air-conditioners in residences. A numerical analysis of the airflow and heat dissipation at the condensing units of a low-rise residence in Hong Kong is presented. At the building design stage, it was deemed that the proposed plant room location and the building layout might have an adverse effect on the condenser heat dissipation. Also the heat energy accumulated might subsequently affect the activities at the neighbor's garden. Other building design options were then raised and were studied in detail. The energy performances of the air-conditioners as well as the levels of thermal comfort at the garden for the proposed options were evaluated. The findings of this paper give good references to the placement of split-type air-conditioners in future low-rise residence projects. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.