Heat Flow Chamber for Low Emissivity Films

Project Summary

Heating and cooling energy to keep buildings at a comfortable temperature account for nearly 25% of the world’s total energy consumption. Low-emissivity windows allow natural light from the sun to illuminate a room, while also preventing unwanted heat from entering or leaving a given building. Low-emissivity films can be an efficient way to reduce heating and cooling energy usage without replacing an entire window. Thus, 3M has been developing low-emissivity window films to meet this need. Validating and optimizing their performance requires the creation of an environmental chamber for accurate and applicable heat flow measurements across glass/film substrates.

Design Goal

Our goal is to create a chamber that will allow for accurate and repeatable experiments to test insulating performance of the low emissivity films and treatments. A test method that will allow operators to produce precise and reproducible results will also be created.

Design Constraints

• Must weigh under 50 lbs., be movable, fit on standard lab workspaces, and change substrate without tools.
• Measure and heat to a temperature difference of about 100 F on either side of the glass.
• Shall be self-contained and be able to run and collect data on its own.
• Measure and read the power draw needed to sustain temperature in the chamber.
• Work with a standard 120 Volts and under 1500 Wh.