Differences in thermal comfort state transitional time among comfort preference groups

Abstract

As the individual difference in thermal comfort transition time is yet to be thoroughly explored, this paper studies time adaptability amongst individuals by collecting high frequency subjective comfort feedback using micro ecological momentary assessments on a smart-watch. The individuals were grouped based on their thermal preference responses and had their transition times analyzed. Each group has various transition time from arriving at and leaving from their comfort state. On average people who are more sensitive to cold temperatures, Group 1, take 8.9 minutes from being uncomfortably cold and 25.0 minutes from being uncomfortably hot to reach comfort zones. On the other hand, people who are generally comfortable, Group 2, take 22.4 minutes from uncomfortably cold and 27.1 minutes from uncomfortably hot to be thermally comfortable. The average transition time within a cluster matches the thermal comfort trend of said cluster. Ultimately, the transient time of preference groups raises the possibility to improve individualized thermal comfort models and machine learning in the future.