Circadian winter thermal profiles and thermal comfort in historical housing — field study

Abstract

In winter thermally inefficient building envelopes of pre-retrofit historical housing allow for ca. sevenfold higher heat loss from heated apartments than the new built housing in Poland. As a result space heating in pre-retrofit tenements is regarded to be highly energy demanding and costly if the internal temperatures were to be kept on average at standard 20 °C assumed in building regulations. In this field study, carried out in January-March 2020, we investigated circadian thermal profiles and the associated thermal comfort in historical tenements both pre-and post-retrofit. The 16 apartments participating in our research were equipped with heating systems prevalent in Polish urban historical buildings, i.e. solid fuel stoves, electric heating, district-supplied central heating, or individual gas boilers. The former systems provided intermittent local heating while the latter central heating with thermostats. Our research comprised spot check multi-parameter measurements and continuous monitoring of the thermal environment, together with a longitudinal thermal comfort questionnaire survey (N=.2539), energy consumption analysis and semi-structured interviews with the residents. The differences detected in average (12.6°C) and range (up to 5.0°C) of diurnal temperatures did not explain the thermal comfort survey results on individual thermal sensations and preferences. What proved more important for the residents was the time of day when the maximum or minimum temperatures occurred and their perceived control over temperature and the cost associated with heating. Accordingly, we identified a need for further studies investigating the link between domestic thermal comfort and satisfaction with the usability of the heating system and control over the cost of heating.