Heat vs Cold Protection/Insulation

1. Jul 28, 2011

chienphong

Hi, guys!

First of all, I am no physicist. I am an architect from Vietnam.

A few friends and I just had an discussion regarding heat and cold protection in general. Then came across a question of whether it is more difficult and energy consuming for heat protection or for cold protection, or is it the same. Let's take an example. We have a void cube (with air inside) of a certain peripheral insulation material. Let's say that we somehow adjust the inside temperature of the cube at 10 degrees Celsius and put the cube in a contant air (same type of air as in the cube) environment of 30 degrees Celsius and after 1 hour the temperature inside the cube is 15 degrees Celsius. The question is: if we adjust the inside temperature of the cube at 20 degrees Celsius and put the cube in a constant air (same type of air as in the cube) environment of 0 degree Celsius, what is the temperature inside the cube after 1 hour? Would it be 15 degress Celsius? or higher? or lower?

I would really appreciate the answer and full back up knowledge for that. Thanks a lot!

Last edited: Jul 28, 2011