2 Mr. and Mrs. Moodley plan to install air conditioning in the open plan section of their home.
i.e. This includes the entrance, living room, dining room and kitchen. The air conditioning
expert recommended and specified an aircon unit that has an ACH value of 554 m3 / h.
Air Changes per Hour (ACH) tells you that the unit expels (output) 554 cubic meters of
air from the rooms in one hour. Normal domestic air conditioners typically have a value
between 2 and 8 times an hour. How many times an hour will this device change the air in
the open plan section in one hour. To apply this data to the open plan section, follow the
point form instructions from i. through to iii.:
i. Calculate the volume of the open plan section
To calculate the volume of the open plan section, we need to add up the volumes of the entrance, living room, dining room, and kitchen.
Let's assume the dimensions of each section are as follows:
- Entrance: 4m x 4m x 3m = 48m³
- Living Room: 6m x 8m x 3m = 144m³
- Dining Room: 4m x 6m x 3m = 72m³
- Kitchen: 4m x 4m x 3m = 48m³
Total volume = 48m³ + 144m³ + 72m³ + 48m³ = 312m³
ii. Calculate the number of air changes per hour by dividing the ACH value (554m³/h) by the volume of the open plan section.
Number of air changes per hour = 554m³/h / 312m³ = 1.775
iii. Therefore, the air conditioning unit will change the air in the open plan section approximately 1.775 times per hour.