Engineers, would you mind analysing this, please?

Question

Consider two buildings of different size but similar structures.

One has just a ground floor and has three rooms. It is prefabricated.

The other one is bigger, has 4 floors, and many rooms in each floor (about a dozen). It is also prefabricated.

Noone is artifically heated.

Does it make sense to say that you feel more cold in the first building than in the second?

Well... in order to fold 4 floors, I assume the second building has probably a more solid structure...
But even if it were the same materials...
Or could anything else justify why we feel more cold in the first building than in the second...

I need to know this in oder for people not to say I'm being unfair in my complaints...

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I agree with miggitymaggz and tinkertailorcandlestickmaker. One significant part that hasn't been mentioned is the single story effect. The shared apartment walls offer some insulation but an even bigger affect is the vertical one. In a cold climate the coldest direction is up, and by having other floors above you the apartments in the large building say warmer. The small single single story building has a large roof surface area that radiates heat upward. Also I imagine that if the apartment isn't heated it is probably not well insulated either which would make this size difference more significant.

Answer 2

I'm assuming you're renting an apartment?

Really, the temperature of a room is dependent upon several factors: type and thickness of insulation (R-value, etc.) in the floor, walls, and ceiling, type and thickness of building materials in all areas, type of heating units, amount of air leakage in/out of the building, whether you have a crawlspace or a slab under the building, and whether there are other heated rooms attached.

If you live in a single-floor house on a slab, you'll have a different heat-transfer rate than an apartment surrounded by other apartments. Likewise, an apartment on the outside of a building (facing the outside wall) will have a different heat transfer rate than any of the above. The construction crews/architects/etc. design the buildings to have the "best" insulation possible, but it's never entirely uniform.

If you feel cold, find out what kind of situation you are in and then run some numbers. Chances are, if you're on a slab or on a crawlspace with no insulation in the floors, you're more likely to be cold than someone living in an apartment. Also, some older apartments have continuously running hot water that does heat them up even without an "artificial" heating system.

Anyway, without knowing more about your specific situation and the R-values of all your insulation, there's nothing anyone could say about whether or not you "should" feel cold. If you want to find out for sure, call in a HVAC mechanic to come in and check out your place. S/he could give you a much better analysis.

Regardless, if you're renting and have signed a contract, you have to look to the contract to see if/how they stipulate things like heat and air. If it's in there, and you can show you've done what you can to heat yourself, you can use that against them in court and they will have to fix/supply adequate heating. If it isn't in there, you'll have a hard time forcing them into fixing the situation, and you'll likely just have to go get a space heater.

Either way, good luck! I hope this gets you going on the right direction.

Answer 3

I agree with "miggitymaggz", in the larger building you are more isolated from the outside (I;m assuming it is cold out side). In the small building, the ceiling, floor and probably 2 or 3 walls are exposed to outside conditions, in the larger building there will be at least some rooms where only one wall (maybe even none) is exposed to the exterior. Also the larger building will have a higher volume to surface area ratio and will lose heat slower in relation to the volume. Even though the buildings are not "heated" the occupants and any equipment the might use (lights, computers etc.) will generate some heat.

Answer 4

Your question is imprecise, but simply put:
If both buildings were exposed to the same constant
weather, the interior temperatures would match the
outside temp.

This is NEVER the case.

Outside air temperatures and sun-warming will vary.
The bigger building will 'lag` the outside temperature
change & solar input more than the small one.

If the buildings are occupied, that is a heat source.
Due to the difference in ratio of volume to outside
surface, the larger building will retain more heat.

The temperature changes in the larger building will
be slower, and will tend to 'average out` the
extremes in the outside environment.

Answer 5

O.k. here is the deal.
There are 3 types of Heat transfer (extreme layman's terms)
Conduction (you physically touching the ice cube)
Convection (you feeling cold air from the ice cube)
Radiation (The warmth you feel from the sun)

What you most likely feel is Convection. Although the physical temperature inside the buildings maybe the same when you have a smaller building volume relative to surface area around the building their is a tendacy to have a higher rate of heat transfer to cool the "lump sum" that being the building itself. This would cause "air drafts". Air drafts have a tendacy to make you "feel" colder due to the fact that the physical heat transfer from your body is greater.
Example it is -20 degrees outside and it is dead calm. your cold.
But you'll feel a lot colder if it is 0 degrees outside wind a 20 mph wind.
In essense that is where wind chill comes from. Wind chill converts everything to a "dead calm" temperature.

K, wrapping is up . . . . If both buildings are the same temperature but you feel colder in one vs. the other. the reason for that is probably because one is draftier then the other.

Answer 6

the smaller building has more wall surfaced exposed to the outside air. In the larger building some of the walls and ceilings are next to other indoor spaces. The larger building will stay warm longer.

Answer 7

I think I understand this question.....

My thought is that it does make sense that you feel colder in the first building than the second. It has nothing to do with the # of floors (if I understand what you are saying), but the # of walls seperating you from the outside world. Each of those walls act as insulation - therefore the more rooms you have, the more insulation you have.

Answer 8

I don't mean to be dense about this, but if neither building has heat, then the temperature in both should be the same.

If anything, whoever is closest to the ground will feel warmer, since the ground temperature is usually constant and above freezing.

Maybe I'm confused about what you mean by "no one is artificially heated."?

Answer 9

Hot air rises, so their may not be enough air flow within the larger building. The flow requirements for a larger builder will of course be different than one with a single floor.

Answer 10

location of second building may be in proper plan to sun or most important due to high use of glass in building it stays warn globalwarming effect dude dont forget that