Physiological and psychological amount of people sensitive to cold and those not so sensitive in housing during winter

Abstract

In Japan, many people feel cold in housing during winter. In this study, focusing on comfortable thermal environment for people sensitive to cold in housing during winter, subjective measurements were carried out experimentally. People sensitive to cold and not so selected as subjects were exposed to climate chamber controlled to 5 °C, heating room controlled to 21 °C, and non-heating room controlled to 14 °C, 16 °C, 18 °C. The results of this study are as follows: (1) the whole body and hand/foot thermal sensation correlates well with the thermal comfort in both groups of subjects; (2) in case of examining skin temperature of extremities during winter, that of fingers should be measured instead of back of hand and instep, and (3) people sensitive to cold felt cold, especially in their foot during experiment all the time. When examining the comfort of residents in housing, it is very important to considering difference of their constitution.