CH-81-05-3 -- The Effectiveness of Selecting Clothing for Comfort in the 18.3°C (65°F) Environment

This laboratory controlled study investigated whether sedentary college students were thermally comfortable in an 18.3°CET* (65°FET*) environment wearing clothing they had selected from their wardrobes, and the theoretical assumption that 1.6 clo of uniformly distributed insulation is necessary for comfort at that temperature.

Condition, sex and exposure variables were investigated testing 72 subjects. The subjects' thermal response to the test conditions were evaluated in terms of: thermal sensation responses for the body as a whole, face, hands, and feet; thermal comfort responses; and weighted mean skin temperatures. In general, students were dissatisfied with the thermal (cool) sensation they experienced when exposed to a 18.3°CET* (65°FET*) environment while wearing clothing they had selected for that condition. The theoretical assumption that 1.6 clo of insulation is necessary for a sedentary person to be thermally comfortable in an 18.3°CET* (65°FET*) environment was validated by the responses of the males but not by the responses of the females.