Abstract
Face and neck cooling has been found effective in improving thermal comfort during exercise in the heat despite the fact that the surface area of human face and neck regions accounts for only 5.5% of the entire body. Presently very little documented research has been conducted to investigate cooling the face and neck only to improve indoor thermal comfort. In this study, two highly energy efficient wearable face and neck cooling fans were used to improve occupant thermal comfort in two warm indoor conditions (30 and 32 °C). Local skin temperatures and perceptual responses while using the two wearable cooling fans were examined and compared. Results showed that both cooling fans could significantly reduce local skin temperatures at the forehead, face and neck regions by up to 2.1 °C. Local thermal sensation votes at the face and neck were decreased by 0.82–1.21 scale unit at the two studied temperatures. Overall TSVs decreased by 1.03–1.14 and 1.34–1.66 scale units at 30 and 32 °C temperatures, respectively. Both cooling fans could raise the acceptable HVAC temperature setpoint to 32.0 °C, resulting in a 45.7% energy saving over the baseline HVAC setpoint of 24.5 °C. Furthermore, occupants are advised to use the free-control cooling mode when using those two types of wearable cooling fans to improve thermal comfort. Finally, despite some issues on dry eyes and dry lips associated with those wearable cooling fans, it is concluded that those two highly energy-efficient wearable cooling fans could greatly improve thermal comfort and save HVAC energy.
Highlights
Personal thermal management (PTM) has received tremendous attention in recent years because it helps save building energy and improve individual occupant thermal comfort [1,2,3]
The forehead temperature decreased by 0.3–1.0 ◦ C in FC and NC when compared to CON
The findings of this study showed that wearable face and neck cooling fans could significantly reduce local skin temperatures at the forehead, face and neck region by up to 2.1 ◦ C
Summary
Personal thermal management (PTM) has received tremendous attention in recent years because it helps save building energy and improve individual occupant thermal comfort [1,2,3]. Personal thermal management systems consume very little energy when compared to traditional HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) systems [4]. Over the last 3 decades, there has been extensive research into the use of non-wearable PTMS to provide individual occupants thermal comfort [5,6,7,8,9]. Documented studies on non-wearable PTMS have clearly demonstrated that the use of non-wearable PTMS can improve individual thermal comfort in both nonair-conditioned and air-conditioned indoor environments [3].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
