Investigation on Hourly and Monthly Thermal Comfort in the Humid Tropics of Malaysia

Harimi Djamila,Chu Ming,Sivakumar Kumaresan

doi:10.3390/buildings5031025

Abstract

Investigations on hourly and monthly indoor neutral temperature variations in the humid tropics are limited in literature. In Malaysia, the variation of hourly outdoor mean temperature is slightly higher than the monthly mean temperature. Consequently, this leads to the hypothesis that the variation of hourly neutral temperatures might be higher than the monthly neutral temperatures. Understanding the impact of hourly and monthly temperature variation on thermal comfort will certainly provide the design direction of future indoor environments. In this study, extensive measurements from residential buildings were used to investigate the observed variation. Linear regression and Griffiths methods were explored for analyzing the results. There was almost no variation on hourly and monthly neutral temperatures within the range under study. Further research is highly recommended due to the limited data collection and the limitations of the employed methods. It is highly advised to further investigate the hourly temperature variation on thermal comfort during nighttime and early morning. This is for an accurate interpretation of the results.

Highlights

Biological time-keeping mechanisms have fascinated many researchers [1]
Despite the fact that circadian rhythms tend to be coordinated with cycles of light and dark, it has been reported that other factors, such as ambient temperature, can influence the timing as well
The results and discussion lead to the following conclusions: The analysis of climatic data revealed that the outdoor monthly mean temperature range was narrower than the hourly mean temperature range

Summary

Introduction

Biological time-keeping mechanisms have fascinated many researchers [1]. They are usually referred to as a system’s rhythm [2]. This is because they affect the daily rhythm of many physiological processes. The body rhythms are called circadian rhythms. These circadian rhythms are generally well known, i.e., the heartbeats in the human chest. Despite the fact that circadian rhythms tend to be coordinated with cycles of light and dark, it has been reported that other factors, such as ambient temperature, can influence the timing as well. Human body temperature varies naturally over the course of a day. Humans and climate as a part of the global environment are subjected to temperature cycles

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion