Research On Residential Thermal Environment And The Thermal Comfort Of Older People In Rural Areas In Hot Summer And Cold Winter Area

Diaojiaolou,widely distributed in the rural areas of the hot summer and cold winter region in central and western China,is the traditional residence of the minority Miao and Tujia people,and the majority residents are the old people.In order to study the thermal environment of traditional hanging houses and brick-concrete dwellings in rural areas with hot summers and cold winters,as well as the thermal comfort of the elderly,we did some filed tests in residences in the western Hunan during summer and winter,and collected questionnaires from the elder residents whose age are over 65.By establishing the thermal sensation model of the elderly in this area and comparing the research results with previous research,the differences between the thermal sensation models of the elderly in different climat e regions and the differences between the thermal sensation models of the elderly and the young are obtained.The result shows that the average temperature of the Diaojiaolou in the west ern Hunan area is lower than that of the brick-concrete residence,the average humidity is greater than that of the brick-concrete residence,and both the temperature and humidity fluctuate in a larger range.The average wind speed of both residences are lower than 0.2m/s,although the wind speed of the Diaojiaolou is slightly higher than that of the brick-concrete residence.We used the 7 level voting criteria of ASHRAE to test the thermal sensation of the elderly,and the results showed that the average voting values of Diaojiaolou are lower than those of brick-concrete residents,and the cold environment and the indoor temperature difference in winter are the main factors affecting the comfort of the residents living in Diaojiaolou.Warm barrels,as traditional local heating devices,are economical and portable,and can greatly improve the thermal comfort status of the residents,thus are widely used in this area.Residents’ acceptance rate of the humidity environment is higher than that of the thermal environment,and more people accept the indoor humidity condition in summer than in winter.More than 95% of the residents think the speed of indoor airflow is acceptable in summer,but in winter,some residents of the Diaojiaolou think that the speed of indoor airflow is too high,while people living in the brick-concrete residences feel a bit stuffy.Comparing the thermal sensation models of this research with the results of previous research,it was found that in summer,the neutral temperature and thermal comfort temperature of the elderly in the northern China were higher than those living in the south,while in winter in areas where the indoor temperature is high,the neutral temperature and thermal comfort temperature of the elderly are also relatively higher.Besides,it was found that compared with young people,the elderly has lower comfort temperature range in summer,and they prefer warmer environment in winter,that is,the elderly have higher requirements for indoor thermal environment than the young people.