Peromyscus eva

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to investigate the frequency of thermal comfort, the occupants adaptation to thermal discomfort and to determine occupants perception of thermal comfort compared to objective measurements of the thermal environment. Fifty households each were chosen from double storey low and medium cost housing in Seri Kembangan, Selangor using cluster randomized sampling. Ten out of the total respondents were chosen to be involved in the futher data collection by using thermal sensors. Raw data were analyzed by using the SPSS program, and data collected by thermal sensors were analyzed on Excel Spreadsheet. The result of the study showed that 3/4 of the respondents respectively from both types of houses considered their houses as "hot" about half of the days of the years. In order to cope with the hot and humid climate in Malaysia, most of the respondents always or frequently wore less or light clothing, opened up windows and doors and also drank more water. Most of the respondents frequently or sometimes suffered headaches, easily got angry and fell sick (fever, cough, flu). The most popular cooling facilities used by the respondents cooling facilities used by the respondents were ceiling fans and standing fans. Nearly all respondents thought that switching on cooling facilities, opening up windows and doors, and adding awning could reduce the thermal discomfort. The Perception was generally true since concrete houses in this study were nearly always hotter than the outdoor environment. The thermal comfort of the respondents ranged from 26.7?C to 31.6?C with a mean of 29.2?C. The mean temperature of the indoor environment was 30.9?C which respondents perceived as "slightly hot". An estimation of the upper thermal comfort level is therefore around 30?C. Result in this study showed that both low cost and medium cost houses experienced thermal discomfort for 24 hours day and night during 24-25 October 1998. In view of the problem of thermal discomfort experienced in these two types of houses, futher research and suitable action should be taken in order to design houses more suited to the Malaysian climate.