Survey of residential air-conditioning-unit usage behavior under south China climatic conditions

Air conditioning accounts for 40% of the total residential electricity usage in Guangzhou. There is great potential to reduce building energy consumption, and energy policy plays an important role in Chinese sustainable development. Therefore, in order to evaluate the further trend of residential energy consumption for air conditioning and to provide detail and accurate information for calculation of air conditioning energy efficiency in China standard promotion, it is necessary to understand air conditioning usage behavior of residents in most typical cities and areas of China. In this paper, occupant behavior and control of indoor environment in south China are introduced through questionnaire to 400 different households and field measurements in 100 air conditioner families. The relationship between air conditioner running time and outdoor air temperature was quite different from curve given by Chinese air-conditioning-units energy efficiency standards GB/T 7725-2004, but was most similar to the Chinese air-conditioning-units energy efficiency standards GB21455-2008, and refrigeration running time was half of running time given by Japan´s energy efficiency standards JRA 4046 in the scale of 24°C-27°C outdoor air temperature.