| Keywords |
Radiant heat exposure; Radiant heater; Thermal threshold; Heating panel temperature; Body regional differences |
| Abstract |
The purpose of this study was to quantify the surface temperature of radiant heaters to optimize the warmth and hot sensations on the human skin according to the size of heating panels. Three sizes of heating panels (5 × 5, 10 × 10, 20 × 20 cm2) were applied to eight body regions of 15 young males at a distance of 10 cm from the skin.
When subjects expressed initial warmth and hot sensation on the skin, the surface temperature of the heating panel was recorded. The results showed that the surface temperature of the heater was lower as the size of the heaters was larger when subjects felt warm or hot (P<0.001). The forearm and upper back were the most sensitive for detecting radiant heat, whereas the foot was the least sensitive to detect radiant heat (P<0.05). There were significant positive relationships between body mass index and the surface temperature of the heater on the especially at the hot sensation thresholds. Body regional area-weighted averages of the surface temperature for the three sizes of heaters were calculated using the measurements from the eight body regions. Linear relationships between the area of the heater and surface temperature were found for the warmth sensation (R2=0.94, P<0.05) and hot sensation (R2=0.99, P<0.05).
These results suggest that the radiant heater temperature for warmth or hot sensation of passengers in electric vehicles can be predicted according to the heating size and body regions, but the estimation is limited to heaters smaller than 400 cm2. |