Perception of Thermal Comfort during Skin Cooling and Heating (original) (raw)
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The effect of thermal transience on the perception of thermal comfort
Physiology & Behavior, 2019
Introduction: The present study tested the hypothesis that at any given ambient temperature (Ta), thermal comfort (TC) is not only a function of the temperature per se, but is also influenced by the temperatures rate of change and direction. Methods: Twelve healthy young (age: 23 ± 3) male participants completed experimental trials where Ta increased from 15°to 40°C (heating) and then decreased from 40 to 15°C (cooling). In one trial (FAST), the rate of change in Ta was maintained at 1°C.min −1 , and in the other (SLOW) at 0.5°C.min −1. During each trial participants provided ratings of TC at 3-min intervals to determine their thermal comfort zone (TCZ). Results: In the FAST trial, participants identified TCZ at an Ta between 22 ± 4 and 30 ± 4°C during heating and between 25 ± 3 and 33 ± 3°C during cooling phase (p = .003), and in the SLOW trial between 21 ± 3 and 33 ± 4°C during heating and between 23 ± 4 and 34 ± 3°C during cooling phase (p = .012). During the heating phase TCZ was established at a lower range of Ta, compared to cooling phase. The difference between the heating and cooling phases in preferred range of Ta was more pronounced in the FAST compared to SLOW trial. Conclusion: TCZ is influenced not only by the prevailing temperature, but also by the direction and the rate of the change in Ta. Faster changes in Ta (1°C.min −1) established the TCZ at a higher Ta during cooling and at a lower Ta during heating phase.
PLoS ONE, 2014
This paper reports on studies of the effect of temperature step-change (between a cool and a neutral environment) on human thermal sensation and skin temperature. Experiments with three temperature conditions were carried out in a climate chamber during the period in winter. Twelve subjects participated in the experiments simulating moving inside and outside of rooms or cabins with air conditioning. Skin temperatures and thermal sensation were recorded. Results showed overshoot and asymmetry of TSV due to the step-change. Skin temperature changed immediately when subjects entered a new environment. When moving into a neutral environment from cool, dynamic thermal sensation was in the thermal comfort zone and overshoot was not obvious. Air-conditioning in a transitional area should be considered to limit temperature difference to not more than 5uC to decrease the unacceptability of temperature step-change. The linear relationship between thermal sensation and skin temperature or gradient of skin temperature does not apply in a stepchange environment. There is a significant linear correlation between TSV and Q loss in the transient environment. Heat loss from the human skin surface can be used to predict dynamic thermal sensation instead of the heat transfer of the whole human body. Citation: Du X, Li B, Liu H, Yang D, Yu W, et al. (2014) The Response of Human Thermal Sensation and Its Prediction to Temperature Step-Change (Cool-Neutral-Cool). PLoS ONE 9(8): e104320.
Building and Environment, 2007
This paper explores how upper extremity skin temperatures correlate with overall-body thermal sensation. Skin temperature measurements of the finger, hand, and forearm might be useful in monitoring and predicting people's thermal state. Subjective perceptions of overall thermal sensation and comfort were collected by repeated surveys, for subjects in a range of test chamber temperatures. A positive temperature gradient (finger warmer than the forearm) of as much as 2 K was seen when subjects felt warm and hot, while a negative temperature gradient (finger colder than the forearm) as much as 8.5 K was seen for cool and cold subjects. A useful warm/cold boundary of 30 1C was found in finger temperature, for both steady state and transient conditions. When finger temperature was above 30 1C, or finger-forearm skin temperature gradient above 0 K, there was no cool discomfort. When finger temperature was below 30 1C, or the finger-forearm skin temperature gradient less than 0 K, cool discomfort was a possibility. Finger temperature and finger-forearm temperature gradient are very similar in their correlation to overall sensation. We also examine how overall sensation is affected by actively manipulating the hand's temperature. r
Partial- and whole-body thermal sensation and comfort— Part I: Uniform environmental conditions
Journal of Thermal Biology, 2006
Subjects exposed to uniform environments were polled for their local and overall (whole-body) thermal sensation and comfort. Sensation and comfort for local body parts vary greatly. In cool environments, hands and feet feel colder than other body parts. The head, insensitive to cold but sensitive to warm, feels warmer than the rest of the body in warm environments. Overall sensation and comfort follow the warmest local sensation (head) in warm environments and the coldest (hands and feet) in cool environments. Subjects evaluate neutral conditions as "comfortable", never "very comfortable", and overshoot of sensation and comfort during wholebody step-changes is small.
3rd Symposium on Occupational Safety and Health Proceedings Book, 2019
Introduction: The skin plays a substantive role in the thermoregulatory process. The maintenance of a constant internal body temperature by the thermoregulatory system, partially achieved by vasoconstriction and vasodilation, makes the skin temperature an important mechanism to indicate the thermal state of the comfort of a given subject. However, this parameter is still little considered in studies that evaluate thermal comfort. Therefore, this work aims to investigate the use of skin temperatures as a predictor of thermal sensation to assess thermal comfort. Methodology: A short systematic review based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was performed to assess scientific publications that evaluated thermal comfort considering the skin temperature as a predictor. The review search strategy considered the use of "thermal comfort" and "skin temperature" as keywords in the ‘Web of Science’, ‘Scopus’, ‘PubMed’, and ‘Academ...
Thermal sensation and comfort in transient non-uniform thermal environments
European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2004
Most existing thermal comfort models are applicable only to steady-state, uniform thermal environments. This paper presents summary results from 109 human subject tests that were performed under non-uniform and transient conditions. In these tests, local body areas of the subjects were independently heated or cooled while the rest of the body was exposed to a warm, neutral or cool environment. Skin temperatures, core temperature, thermal sensation and comfort responses were collected at one to three minute intervals. Based on these tests, we have developed predictive models of local and overall thermal sensation and comfort.