Background. Reducing the specific characteristics of thermal energy consumption for heating and ventilation of buildings is one of the priority tasks in the construction industry, which is confirmed by the requirements of regulatory documents. A significant part of heat losses occurs through translucent enclosing structures. Scientists from ISPU have developed energy-saving designs of window units with heat-reflecting screens, tested them in a climatic chamber, and also performed simulation modeling of the heat transfer process. The previously proposed shutter designs do not take into account the energy-saving potential of using low-heat-conducting and lightweight materials used as a basis of heat-reflecting coatings. We can obtain the most reliable and economically sound results of using shutters in windows by conducting full-scale tests under real operating conditions. Thus, the development of new shutter designs with increased heat-protective characteristics and their full-scale testing is an urgent task to ensure a reduction of fuel and energy costs for heating buildings.
Materials and methods. The object of the study is energy-saving shutter with a metallized coating of layers and filling of interlayers with air and argon mounted on window units of a private house from the outside. A physical experiment to determine the thermal characteristics of windows with shutters has been carried out based on the method of determining the resistance of translucent enclosing structures, as well as the rules to examine the technical condition of window units in natural conditions. The results have been processed using mathematical statistics methods.
Results. Based on the results of the full-scale experiment, new data has been obtained on the effect of using developed shutters in windows on increasing the thermal protection of translucent enclosing structures. It is found that when using a shutter with an interlayer filled with argon, the reduced resistance to heat transfer of the structure is increased by 5,4 times relative to the control unit. A significant increase of temperature on the inner surface of the glazing is obtained. The adequacy of the obtained data is confirmed by comparison with the data of regulatory documentation.
Conclusions. The conducted full-scale tests have allowed to establish that filling the interlayers in the shutter formed by metal foil with air and argon allows to increase the zonal resistance to heat transfer of the window block with screens compared to the basic version (glazed window). The developed shutters will significantly reduce heat loss of the building. The developed shutter can be considered as a pilot sample and can be implemented when constructing new and reconstructing existing buildings. The obtained data can also be used to verify mathematical models of heat transfer through windows with shutters.