Buttock temperature in a sedentary posture on plywood flooring of varying thickness over the ONDOL heating system

Abstract

This study investigated the thermophysiological responses of healthy subjects that sat on the plywood covering of the ONDOL floor heating system. Environmental chambers were constructed for this study, wherein ambient temperature, and wall and ceiling surface temperature were controlled at 24°C, and relative humidity was 50%. The temperature of supply water (t _sw) flowing into the floor coil was altered from 15°C to 40°C at 5°C intervals. The floor covering materials used in this experiment were mortar and three types of plywood with thicknesses of 2.7, 7.5, and 12 mm. The floor surface temperatures (t _f) and the skin temperatures of eight subjects were measured while they were sitting on the floor. Buttock temperature, in particular, was monitored. This experiment yielded the following results: (1) t _f was 17.0°–35.2°C on mortar finishing and 19.1°–30.2°C on 12-mm plywood covering; (2) the buttocks skin temperature increased with t _sw higher than 30°C on mortar finishing and for t _sw higher than 30°, 25°, and 20° on 2.7-, 7.5-, and 12-mm plywood finishing, respectively; (3) the differences of buttock temperature when t _sw was varied between 15° and 40°C were 11.4°C on mortar, 7.9°C on 2.7-mm plywood, 6.5°C on 7.5-mm plywood, and 5.0°C on 12-mm plywood; (4) using regression analysis, the neutral point temperature of buttocks was determined to be 32.8°C.