Thermal comfort and energy conservation of a four-sided enclosed local heating device in a cold environment

Abstract

It has been proven that local heating can satisfy the thermal comfort needs of people with low energy consumption. Previous research on local heating equipment has been conducted in artificial climate chambers rather than in naturally conditioned buildings. In this study, a four-sided enclosed local heating device was developed, and experiments were conducted to investigate the thermal comfort and corresponding energy consumption when 20 subjects (half male and half female) used this device in a naturally conditioned environment in winter (12–16 °C). The experimental results indicated that the overall thermal responses of the subjects stabilized after the local heating device was used for 15 min, which significantly improved the overall thermal responses of the subjects (p < 0.01); furthermore, female subjects preferred a warmer environment. The upper limbs and shanks had the most intense cold sensations in the upper and lower body, respectively. Compared with the condition without local heating, the difference in body temperature of the shank was significant (p < 0.01). In addition, the total heating power of the equipment was related to the number of heating plates turned on. The fitting results indicated that the thermoneutral temperatures when three and four heating plates were turned on were 15.7 °C and 13.5 °C, respectively. The study results contributed to providing a reference for solving heating problems in areas where there were no central-heating facilities.