THERMAL COMFORT STUDY FOCUSING ON THE ACCEPTABILITY OF ELEVATED AIR TEMPERATURES WITH INCREASED AIR SPEEDS USING CEILING/PEDESTAL FANS IN EXISTING AIR-CONDITIONED ROOMS.

Abstract

Over the years, measures have been put in place globally to combat climate change. Apart from being supportive of global measures, Singapore has also implemented local measures such as having the Singapore Green Plan, and monitoring and controlling hydrofluorocarbons. Despite all that has been done thus far, according to the Climate Action Tracker (2022), the world would not be able to hit its target of keeping warming to 1.5°C as set out in the Paris Agreement. Looking at the energy consumption in a typical Singapore home and the recent increase in air conditioners in buildings, it can be concluded that having an air conditioner has become a necessity. Based on recommendations, the air conditioning setpoint should be set at 25°C however it has been observed that this is not the case (Clean & Green Singapore, 2020; Aircon Service Singapore, 2021). Low air conditioning setpoints use up more energy which contributes more to climate change and drives up the electricity bill, thus an alternative would be to increase the air conditioning setpoint while adding an extra fan for cooling. Hence, this dissertation aims to study the likelihood of residents’ accepting a scenario where there is an increased airspeed along with raised air conditioner temperature. The target group is the minorities who are setting their air conditioner set point at 22°C and below. Experiments and surveys were done to understand their thermal comfort and their fan speed adjustments when the air conditioner setpoint was increased to 22°C, 24°C and 26°C. Their level of acceptance for each scenario with elevated air speed was also studied. Research findings conclude that air speed can offset thermal discomfort brought about by increased air conditioner temperature after being in the room for 30 to 45 minutes at 24°C and 26°C, however, this could be achieved between 15 to 30 minutes at 22°C. Furthermore, whether a person achieves thermal comfort has little/no effect on his level of acceptance of an alternative scenario. The amount of °C that could be offset by 0.1m/s of airspeed in the residential settings was also determined to not defer much from the value calculated in non-residential settings. Limitations of the study include small sample size, measurements done in the researcher’s room may not accurately reflect that of in participants’ room due to room size, window orientation and air conditioner performance.