Human thermal sensation and comfort in a non-uniform environment with personalized heating

Deng, Qihong; Wang, Runhuai; Li, Yuguo; Miao, Yufeng; Zhao, Jinping

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.172

Cited by 88 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…The different studies are briefly presented in the following subparagraphs according to the type of personal heating system, type of experiment, presence/absence of individual control, ambient temperatures, whether the study had a focus on thermal comfort or energy savings and whether a system was investigated or a heating practice. [20] used a reference ambient temperature of 18 • C and showed that a heated chair in a room of 16 • C could improve the thermal sensation from slightly cool to neutral and could also improve the thermal comfort from slightly uncomfortable to slightly comfortable. Heating the seat cushion was also found to improve the thermal sensation in unheated body parts such as hand and foot, while the back of the seat only has an effect on the thermal sensation in the back.…”

Section: Review Of Personal Heating Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personal Heating in Dwellings as an Innovative, Energy-Sufficient Heating Practice: A Case Study Research

2021

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Despite the efforts to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, the actual energy consumption decreased much less than expected in recent years. Therefore, energy sufficiency is gaining attention as a complementary approach to energy efficiency. It aims to reduce the actual energy consumption of buildings by providing thermal comfort to residents in a sufficient way. This demands for alternative heating practices, such as the application of personal heating systems. Although a review of past studies shows that, in office buildings, thermal comfort can be provided with less energy by using personal heating systems, the application in a residential context is much less explored. Our hypothesis is that an innovative, energy-sufficient personal heating practice also has potential to reduce the overall energy consumption in dwellings. Therefore, this paper presents the results of a one-week case study on personal heating as an energy-sufficient heating practice in three dwellings. During the case study, the ambient temperature was reduced to 18 °C, and residents were allowed to use active and passive personal heating systems to make themselves as comfortable as possible. They were also asked to evaluate their thermal sensation and thermal comfort. The results show that, despite a lower indoor temperature, residents are able to achieve thermal comfort by using personal heating at the locations where they effectively reside. Additionally, a significant energy saving potential was found. The case study proved our hypothesis, leading to the conclusion that an innovative, sufficient personal heating practice in dwellings can be a supplementary step to reduce the energy consumption to meet the global challenges.

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Section: Review Of Personal Heating Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personal Heating in Dwellings as an Innovative, Energy-Sufficient Heating Practice: A Case Study Research

2021

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“…The paper of Deng et al [5] clearly shows that personal heating of a person heated from the seat surfaces increases thermal sensation and comfort while it also shows that there is a substantial deviation interval of the results. The levels of the deviation for thermal sensation and comfort of youths, elders and genders can be viewed from the work.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Heating and cooling vehicle seat via air conditioner coils

Ateş

Canlı

2019

EPJ Web Conf.

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A real vehicle seat was modified in order to locate evaporator coils extended from a vehicle air conditioner system just beneath the back and cushion surfaces. The seat back and cushion surface temperatures were measured by several thermocouples. Air conditioner system was operated in heat pump and cooling modes for different compressor speeds. After steady operation of the air conditioner was attained, a live manikin sat to the seat and remained in sitting position for five minutes. The temperatures were recorded during the existence of the manikin and they were recorded for an additional five minutes after the manikin left the seat. The coils embedded under the seat surfaces were made of flexible hoses for the sake of usage due to the shape changing seat surfaces under the load of the manikin weight. Coils were in parallel configuration by the help of a distributer and collector. The temperatures of the seat surfaces were evaluated in respect of the thermal comfort and feasibility of the application. Air conditioner system was also monitored in respect of the COP and energy consumption values. At the instance of sitting, the transient response of the system is very significant due to the weight of the live manikin. However it settles quickly. Cooling was observed to be more realizable while heating seat surfaces had problems due to flow blockage. There were no significant discomfort issues due to the seat surface temperatures and the existence of the coils. The surface temperatures of the seat back exhibited differences from the seat cushion although the formations were same. The orientation of the coils and the weight of the passenger were concluded to be the reason for that. COP was found to be changing between 3 and 3.56 for cooling mode while the highest amount was found for 600 rev/min compressor speed in cooling operation. Heat pump operation had relatively higher COP values ranging between 3.31-3.64. 700 rev/min compressor speed gave the 3.64 COP value for heat pump operation. The difference between COP values of the working modes was concluded to be due to the seat coils and their effect on the additional pumping work. The potential of the application and possible field of studies were evaluated according to the conducted tests and the survey about the topic.

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“…According to Takada et al [24] and Havenith and Van Middendorp [25], the important individual factors are body surface area to body mass ratio, fat mass, sweat rates, maxVO2 use and heart rate. Conversely, personalised evaluations such as local warming showed to have a definite impact on providing better comfort, throughout gender and age groups [26]. Studies [27] on human behaviour have demonstrated that elder individuals can encounter difficulties in keeping up with steady core temperature which means that aged body cannot avoid heat loss when experienced cold condition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the Thermal Comfort and Energy Performance of a Thermal Chair for Open Plan Office

Shahzad¹,

Calautit²,

Wei³

et al. 2020

J. sustain. dev. energy water environ. syst.

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The aim of this work is to analyse the thermal comfort and energy performance of a thermal heating chair for open plan office using field experiments, thermal comfort survey and energy simulations. A comprehensive review on the development of thermal chairs was carried out to highlight the present research gaps. The study developed a thermal chair prototype with controllable heating pads, incorporated into the back of the seat and back rest fabric. The field test was carried out in an office building in the UK during the winter. The study showed that the users set the thermal chair temperature between 29-45 °C. The field survey results of the thermal satisfaction survey showed that 19 out of 44 participants felt satisfied before using the device. While after using the thermal chair, the number of satisfied respondents increased to 34. The work also utilised Building Energy Simulation to further assess the thermal comfort and energy performance of the thermal chair. Three cases were simulated: non heated office chair with the zone thermostat maintained at 22 °C, non heated office chair with the zone thermostat at 16-20 °C and thermal chair with the zone thermostat at 16-20 °C.

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Human thermal sensation and comfort in a non-uniform environment with personalized heating

Cited by 88 publications

References 65 publications

Personal Heating in Dwellings as an Innovative, Energy-Sufficient Heating Practice: A Case Study Research

Personal Heating in Dwellings as an Innovative, Energy-Sufficient Heating Practice: A Case Study Research

Heating and cooling vehicle seat via air conditioner coils

Analysis of the Thermal Comfort and Energy Performance of a Thermal Chair for Open Plan Office

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