Measurement of Personal Experienced Temperature Variations in Rural Households Using Wearable Monitors: A Pilot Study

Rongjiang Ma, Yu Fu, Mengsi Deng, Xingli Ding, Jill Baumgartner, Ming Shan and Xudong Yang
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Rongjiang Ma: Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Yu Fu: Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Mengsi Deng: Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Xingli Ding: Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Jill Baumgartner: Institute for Health and Social Policy and Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 1A3, Canada
Ming Shan: Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Xudong Yang: Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-20

Abstract: The time-varying data of air temperatures experienced by people in their daily lives is an important basis for studying human thermal sensation, adaptation, comfort, and health. It is also very important for designing targeted strategies to help people reduce uncomfortable experience. In this study, a small (98 mm × 49 mm × 25 mm), lightweight (~100 g), and portable temperature logger with a wide measurement range (−40 to 100 °C) and appropriate accuracy (±0.3 °C precision) was combined with a phone holder that was adapted as an armband sleeve to constitute a wearable monitor. Fourteen monitors were worn by 14 residents in 6 different households in rural Beijing, China, to monitor their personal thermal environment. In the context of having very similar living habits in winter and coping strategies for thermal discomfort, the temperatures that 14 residents experienced exhibited wide ranges and large variations during the two-day test period. The highest and lowest temperatures experienced by residents reached 30.6 and −16.6 °C, respectively. This paper provided new data and evidences about various temperatures experienced by residents, even though they were from the same family and lived together for decades. In terms of methodology, as an exploration, the present study indicated that using personal wearable monitors is a viable method to capture the real experienced thermal environment, which extended the method for collecting data regarding complex experiences in different environments to aid the study of human responses to the real-world thermal environment.

Keywords: personal thermal environment experience; wearable monitors; personal experienced temperature; rural environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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