Statistical Analysis of Three Sets of Residential Duct Leakage Measurements

Abstract

Residential HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) duct-leakage-to-outside is the leakage of conditioned airfrom the HAVC ducts to the unconditioned space in residential homes mainly measured in cubic feet per minute(CFM). In this paper, the three most commonly used test methods (Manual, APT, and Combined) to determineresidential duct-leakage-to-outside are compared using parametric and non-parametric statistical techniques. Theobjective of this study is to determine if there exist any differences between the various test methods and to predict theresults of a test method from the other. Line of Equality, Linear Regression Analysis, Paired-t and Wilcoxon pairedsampletests were employed to compare the three methods. These results were then used to determine the mean ductleakage-to-outsidein north Louisiana, USA using a weighted sum approach. The exposition is accessible to a widerange of readers; a basic knowledge of statistics is needed. Some exposure to regression models is useful.