Degree-day base temperature for residential building energy prediction in Saudi Arabia

This paper presents the monthly weather data summary and the monthly average temperatures as a function of hour of the day for four cities in Saudi Arabia. These cities are Dhahran, Riyadh, Jeddah, and Khamis Mushait. Since the degree-day (function of temperature only) is the simplest method of extrapolating climate to estimate yearly or monthly heating or cooling requirements and has been in steady use for more than 45 years, values for cooling and heating degree-days are also reported for different base temperatures. A typical Saudi residence, is designed to be representative of current residential construction, is thermally analysed to determine the degree-day cooling and heating base temperature for Saudi Arabia. The data represented will be very useful to the building design profession and to designers and manufacturers of HVAC equipment.