Smart heating sleeping bags for improving wearers' thermal comfort at the feet

Abstract

Sleeping bags are portable products, which are essential for sleeping outdoors. Generally, a sleeping bag is comprised of an outer layer, an inner lining layer and the filler. The EN 13537 (2012) and ASTM F1720 (2014) standards are widely used to determine the thermal insulation of sleeping bags by means of thermal manikin. Previous studies have found that local thermal discomfort at feet was often seen despite the mean skin temperature was well within thermoneutral range under the defined comfort and limit temperature [1]. Thus, it is meaningful to design smart heating sleeping bags to improve the local thermal comfort of the users. In this study, a novel smart sleeping bag was developed by incorporating heating fabrics into the feet region of the bag. The physiological and psychological responses when using traditional sleeping bag and the smart sleeping bag were investigated and compared.