THERMAL EVALUATION OF A CHAIR WITH FANS AS AN INDIVIDUALLY CONTROLLED SYSTEM

It is difficult to satisfy all workers in an office with respect to thermal comfort by a total air conditioning system. An individually controlled system that can create a preferable thermal environment for each occupant is therefore needed. In the present study, a chair incorporating two fans under the seat and behind the backrest of the chair to provide isothermal forced airflow to the occupant was developed. Experiments were conducted in a climate chamber during summer. Seven healthy college students participated as subjects. The occupant was allowed to freely control the two built-in fans by adjusting dials on the occupant’s desk. The room air temperatures were set at 26°C, 28°C, 30°C, and 32°C. At a room air temperature of 28°C, the whole-body thermal sensations were near thermally neutral, regardless of the type of chair. At a room air temperature of 30°C, the occupants were able to create acceptable thermal environments from the viewpoints of whole-body thermal sensation and acceptability by using the chairs with fans. At a room air temperature of 32°C, the chairs tested in the present study were not able to provide acceptable thermal environments