Investigation of humidity effects on the thermal comfort and heat balance of the body

Abstract

Humidity, one of the most confusing of all climatic parameters in assessing the indoor climate, affects comfort in a number of ways both directly and indirectly, and the avenues by which humidity affects comfort are not completely known. The aim of this study is to comprehend the effects of humidity on thermal interaction between the human body and its environment, and thermal sensation. In this chapter, the effect of humidity on heat and water balance of human body, and in turn on body temperatures and thermal sensation, is investigated. A mathematical model of heat and mass interaction between the human body and the surrounding environment has been established, and the effect of air humidity has been examined under various relative humidity levels by means of using the empirical relations that express thermoregulatory control mechanisms. In the numerical model, human body has been separated into 16 sedentary segments, and possible local discomforts have been taken into consideration. Using the model, changes in the sensible and latent heat losses, body temperatures, skin wettedness, and thermal comfort indices have been calculated and results have been discussed explicitly.