Older people, thermal comfort behaviour and related energy use

This work investigated thermal comfort and adaptive behaviour of older people in their houses as well as the related energy demand during the summer 2020 and the COVID-19 situation in India, Turkey and the UK. Older people are considered, as less sensitive and responsive towards the changes of the thermal environment. Thus, their health is at risk, particularly concerning the climate change and the recent increase in heat waves. The use of control systems and the related energy demand was of particular focus in this work. Field test studies of thermal comfort using both longitudinal and transverse approaches were applied in India, Turkey and the UK. Overall, 1,273 datasets were included in this work. The comfort temperature was respectively 30.12°C, 24.88°C and 22.49°C. The comfort level of the Indian respondents was significantly decreased by the increased humidity levels, particularly the female respondents. Otherwise, the comfort temperatures of women were found similar to men. In Turkey and the UK, mainly natural ventilation and heating were in use. However, a variety of thermal control systems were available in the Indian case studies. Natural ventilation and fan were constantly in use, while more energy intensive systems, such as air conditioner, was only in use when outdoor temperatures reached 30°C and over. The energy use of the Indian case studies was found slightly lower than the British case studies, despite the availability of various thermal control systems.