Final answer:
The cooling system should maintain an interior temperature based on the desired level of comfort and the outside temperature, where a larger temperature difference requires more energy. For instance, with a temperature difference of 20°C, a house might need 1,500 W of power to stay at 20°C inside when it's 0°C outside.
Step-by-step explanation:
The cooling system in a household is designed to maintain a comfortable interior temperature regardless of the outside temperature. The amount of energy required to maintain a specific interior temperature depends on the temperature difference, denoted as AT, between the inside and outside of the building. For example, if AT is 20°C, and the outside temperature is 0°C, a well-insulated house may only need 75 W/°C to maintain an inside temperature of 20°C, equating to a total of 1,500 W of steady heat input.
When comparing the energy required to maintain different temperatures, it becomes clear that a larger temperature difference results in a higher energy demand. If a house requires 200 W of power for every degree Celsius difference, and the goal is to maintain an interior temperature of 20°C while the outside temperature is 0°C, the system would need to provide 4,000 W of power to maintain this temperature.
Additionally, the thermal efficiency can also be affected by the outside temperature. In an example where the goal is to keep a home interior at 20°C when it is -10°C outside, the energy requirements and efficiency would differ compared to maintaining the same interior temperature but with different outside temperatures.