How to Calculate Insulation Losses in a Cold Room

All rooms lose heat to the outdoor environment, allowing warmth to seep through the walls and insulation into the air. Even a cold room has some insulation loss, provided it is even colder outside. Calculating the heat a room loses through its walls is quite simple, consisting of little more than multiplying the factors that contribute to the transfer of heat energy.

Instructions

- 1
  Use a thermometer to find the room's temperature in degrees F. Go outside and measure the exterior temperature the same way. Subtract the external temperature from the internal temperature.
- 2
  Measure the width and height of all external walls in the room. Multiply the width and height of each wall and add the area of the walls together for the total square footage.
- 3
  Find the U-value of your walls, including the insulation. If your walls were purely made up of insulation, you could simply divide 1 by the insulation's R-value. The solid interior and exterior walls also affect the U-value, however. Use an online U-value chart such as that provided by Delta-T, Inc. to help you find the correct value for your walls (see Resources).
- 4
  Multiply the temperature difference, surface area and U-value to find the hourly heat loss of the room in BTUs per hour.

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