Draught,Radiant Temperature Asymmetry and Air Temperature – a Comparison between Measured and Estimated Thermal Parameters

Thermal comfort measurements were taken in 17 enterprises at 129 work sites in shops, stores and offices. The measurements included air temperature, air velocity, relative humidity and radiant temperature asymmetry according to ISO 7726 and ISO 7730 standards. The workers also answered a questionnaire dealing with thermal comfort. Predicted mean vote (PMV) and the percentages of workers complaining of draught (“percentage dissatisfied”, PD) were determined and compared with the workers' assessments of thermal conditions. The estimations of air temperature were always too low, and the estimated PMV indicated that the thermal environment was too warm. The calculated PMVs were usually lower than the estimated ones. Most of the workers complained of draught, even though, according to the PD index, fewer than 17% of the workers should have felt discomfort due to draught. The radiant temperature asymmetry was always small and did not explain complaints of draught on the basis of the reference value. Judged by the present reference values, and the measurement of the thermal environment, the workers overestimated the sensation of thermal discomfort.