Abstract:

Some researchers proposed several thermal comfort models of sleeping bags. The predictions from these models were in poor agreement with experimental observations. In this paper, a new model is developed to predict comfort temperatures of sleeping bags on the basis of the elaboration and calculation of the heat exchange between the human body and the environment, in combination with the general heat balance equation. In order to verify this model, sixty subjects were divided into three groups. Each group was tested one of the three sleeping bags with thermal insulation of 4.3clo, 5.6 clo and 6.6clo. The results indicated the predictions of this model were very close to the actual neutral temperatures based on the analysis of thermal sensation data of subjects. Since this model were in good agreement with experimental results from subjects, it is applicable to predict comfort temperatures when people use sleeping bags for recreational activities in outdoor environments.

Key words: sleeping bag, human body, thermal comfort, model