Abstract
This paper presents one of the first national scale studies of summertime temperatures in English dwellings. Living room and bedroom temperatures were recorded in 207 homes across the England during the cool summer of 2007. Data was also collected by face-to-face household interviews. Fourteen homes (7%) were observed to be heated for part or all of the analysis period (July to August). Based on the BSEN15251 adaptive thermal comfort model, the 193 free-running dwellings would, in general, to be considered as uncomfortably cool. Over 72% of living rooms and bedrooms had more than 5% of hours below the BSEN15251 Cat II lower threshold, with over 50% having more than 5% of hours below the Cat III threshold. Detached homes and those built before 1919 were significantly cooler (p < 0.05) than those of other type and age. Static criteria revealed that, despite the cool summer, 21% of the bedrooms had more than 5% of night time hours over 26 °C; which is a recommended upper limit for bedrooms. The bedrooms of modern homes, i.e. those built after 1990 or with cavity walls, were significantly warmer (p < 0.05). The bedrooms in homes built prior to 1919 were significantly cooler (p < 0.05). The living rooms of flats were significantly warmer than the living rooms in the other dwelling types (p < 0.05). The incidence of warm bedrooms in modern homes, even during a cool summer, is of concern, especially as there is a strong trend towards even better insulation standards in new homes and the energy-efficient retrofitting of existing homes.
Highlights
The UK climate has been warming, with the central England annual average temperature increasing by about 1 C [1] over the last century
The CaRB dataset A nationally representative sample of 1134 English dwellings was selected as part of the Carbon Reduction in Buildings (CaRB) research project [11] using stratified random sampling drawn from the Postcode Address File for England [14]
Interviews were conducted from 2007 to 2008 using a questionnaire devised by the CaRB project team that was intended to capture a wide range of information such as the households’ energy consumption, heating practices, building characteristics and socio-demographics
Summary
The UK climate has been warming, with the central England annual average temperature increasing by about 1 C [1] over the last century. This trend is expected to continue resulting in an increase in the annual average temperatures across the UK of about 2e3.5 C by 2080 [1]. The European heat wave of August 2003 resulted in over 2000 (16%) additional deaths in England and Wales, with the highest impact in London and on the elderly [4]. The duration of exposure to high temperatures was found to be an important factor in determining increased mortality
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