Utilizing a Domestic Water Tank to Make the Air Conditioning System in Residential Buildings More Sustainable in Hot Regions

Abstract

Air conditioning (AC) is considered an important requirement for hot environments, but it is facing one of the most demanding obstacles as concerns the use of electrical energy resources. In 2019, electricity consumption in the residential sector in Gulf Cooperation Council states reached approximately 43% of the total national consumption, and about two-thirds of the electrical energy consumed in residential buildings (RBs) was used for AC. Therefore, as these indicators show, there is a need to focus on studying AC. One of the most important reasons for the high consumption of electrical energy in RBs is the big difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures. In this paper, a heat exchanger was designed and tested experimentally to reduce this temperature difference by using a domestic ground water tank (GWT) as a sink/source (water-cooled condensers instead of air-cooling). The results have shown that the water tank made the surrounding temperature around the external coil of the AC more suitable for cooling/heating. The proposed system resulted in a reduction in energy consumption by 28% of the electrical energy needed in the conventional system and an increase in COP by 39%. This means that this system is more efficient and therefore more sustainable.