Differences in thermal comfort between male and female with the same thermal preference in summer

Abstract

In order to obtain gender differences in individuals with the same thermal preference, we used a validated questionnaire to select subjects with cool preference, neutral preference and warm preference. With the working condition set at 26 ℃, 29 ℃, and 32 ℃ respectively, we tested the subject′s subjective response, physiological parameters, and body shape parameters. The results show that there is a significant difference in the mean skin temperature and mean conductive heat flux between male and female subjects with cool preference. There are significant differences between male and female in the mean skin temperature at 26、29 ℃ and mean conductive heat flux for the warm preference; the mean skin conductive heat flux between male and female with neutral preference is only significantly different at 26 ℃; there are also significat differences in body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, body density and skeletal muscle content between male and female with cold and warm preference.

Keywords

• individual differences
• thermal preference
• physiological parameters
• body mass index
• body fat percentage