TY - JOUR
T1 - Thermal comfort chamber study of Nordic elderly people with local cooling devices in warm conditions
AU - Chen, Minzhou
AU - Farahani, Azin Velashjerdi
AU - Kilpeläinen, Simo
AU - Kosonen, Risto
AU - Younes, Jaafar
AU - Ghaddar, Nesreen
AU - Ghali, Kamel
AU - Melikov, Arsen Krikor
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - In this study, we investigated the thermal response of Nordic elderly
people before and after using local cooling devices in warm conditions. A
climate chamber was used to simulate warm environments. We studied
three types of local cooling devices: a table fan, an evaporative
cooling device, and an air-cooled jacket. A total of 26 elderly
participants were recruited for this study. During the experiments,
votes of thermal and air movement perception were collected. The elderly
voted for a neutral temperature of 26 °C, preferred temperature of 26.5
°C, and an acceptable temperature of 28 °C. Local thermal sensation in
the torso areas of the elderly affected their overall thermal sensation
more than local thermal sensation in the extremities under warm
conditions. When the ambient temperature was risen to 1 °C and 4 °C
higher than 26 °C, the behavior pattern of using local cooling devices
for the elderly was: 1) with the small rise the use rate reached 50%
with the lower speed modes mainly chosen; and 2) the higher rise caused
more people to choose higher speed modes. Our findings show that the
three local cooling devices can increase thermal acceptability under
warm conditions. More than 80% of elderly accepted the 28 °C thermal
environment, and less than 80% accepted 32 °C. The acceptance rate for
air movement after using devices was decreased and less than 80% in most
conditions. Moreover, all devices performed better under low-humidity
conditions.
AB - In this study, we investigated the thermal response of Nordic elderly
people before and after using local cooling devices in warm conditions. A
climate chamber was used to simulate warm environments. We studied
three types of local cooling devices: a table fan, an evaporative
cooling device, and an air-cooled jacket. A total of 26 elderly
participants were recruited for this study. During the experiments,
votes of thermal and air movement perception were collected. The elderly
voted for a neutral temperature of 26 °C, preferred temperature of 26.5
°C, and an acceptable temperature of 28 °C. Local thermal sensation in
the torso areas of the elderly affected their overall thermal sensation
more than local thermal sensation in the extremities under warm
conditions. When the ambient temperature was risen to 1 °C and 4 °C
higher than 26 °C, the behavior pattern of using local cooling devices
for the elderly was: 1) with the small rise the use rate reached 50%
with the lower speed modes mainly chosen; and 2) the higher rise caused
more people to choose higher speed modes. Our findings show that the
three local cooling devices can increase thermal acceptability under
warm conditions. More than 80% of elderly accepted the 28 °C thermal
environment, and less than 80% accepted 32 °C. The acceptance rate for
air movement after using devices was decreased and less than 80% in most
conditions. Moreover, all devices performed better under low-humidity
conditions.
KW - Elderly people
KW - Local cooling devices
KW - Thermal comfort
KW - Wwarm environment
KW - limate chamber
U2 - 10.1016/j.buildenv.2023.110213
DO - 10.1016/j.buildenv.2023.110213
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0360-1323
VL - 235
JO - Building and Environment
JF - Building and Environment
M1 - 110213
ER -