# Heat capacity of a room

I have a room that is V m3. If I heat up the room a certain temp, then let it cool, and I measure the temp drop rate to be i.e. 10K in 2 hours. Then I use the following equation:

$$\dot Q = C_P \cdot V \cdot \rho \cdot \dot T$$

This gives me Watt value, but I'm not excactly sure what it tells me. Perhaps the value for the temp drop should be negative, so that it tells me that it would require so many Watts to cool the room 10K in 2 hours If someone can verify this it would be great.

Also, if there are several items in the room that have different heat capacity, can I then just add these together or how would that work?

In order to measure the room's heat capacity you need to heat it to a certain temperature, make sure the entire content of the room is at the same temperature, both before and after heating, and then divide the energy by the temperature difference.

But is my thought on the equation correct? Does this Watt-value denote how much effect it would take to cool the room 10 degrees in 2 hours?

vanesch
Staff Emeritus