Week 5: Beginning Initial Testing

     This week we began to do our initial testing. In class we set up our first experiment. We inserted out light bulb into the sheet rock and also made a tiny hole for the thermocouple. We had one end of the thermocouple inside of the sheet rock to tell us the temperature inside. The other end was outside of the unit to measure the temperature of the room. We then surrounded the sheet rock with our first insulation, Styrofoam. When everything was secure we turned on the light bulb and watched the temperature rise. Since time was running short we let the temperature rise to about twenty degrees about room temperature. Then turned off the light source and recorded the degree difference every thirty seconds.
   This test was not an official test. It was in the place to get a feel for the length of time it would take to do each experiment. Also, to see how difficult it was to maintain each experiment. Later in the week the  Styrofoam will be tested again for an official read. The fiber glass will also be tested.
   The most difficult part of doing these experiments is maintain consistency when testing. We have to make sure that the area where we are testing remains consistent. This will help us reduce our amount of error.