Field Study on Thermal Comfort and Adaptive Behaviours with a Personal Heating Device in Hunan

Abstract

This study aims to investigate thermal comfort of residents with a kind of personal heating device (Huoxiang) in winter. A field survey was carried out in towns with the cold-humid climate in the west of Hunan Province, south China. The investigated buildings were natural-ventilated in winter, and the indoor environment much deviated from the comfort zone suggested by ASHRAE Standard 55. Huoxiang is a kind of electric heating device which is widely used by the local residents for keeping warm in winter due to the lack of central heating systems and air conditioning systems. This survey included physical measurements, questionnaires, and interviews. The results showed that residents who were using Huoxiang could still have a neutral thermal sensation and a high level of comfort (99.1% thermal acceptability rate) when the indoor ambient air temperature was 8–14 °C. Meanwhile, the relative humidity was relatively high, but because of the low air temperature, the humidity ratio in air isn’t actually high. And more people would feel ‘dry’ when they were using Huoxiang, through analysis, this feeling of ‘dry’ would affect thermal comfort to some degree. Moreover, Huoxiang has a simple structure, the ability to keep users comfortable make it possible to be applied in small towns and rural regions with a low economic level.