Temperature field of bed climate and thermal comfort assessment based on local thermal sensations

Bed climate is an essential determinant in creating thermal comfort condition during sleep. This study explored the bed climate distribution and thermal sensations of different local body parts. The mean bed temperatures calculated from different measuring points were evaluated based on their sensitivity to the physiological parameter (mean skin temperature) and subjective quantification (thermal sensation vote). The results showed that the mean bed temperature around the middle part of the body (MBTM) was most suitable for use in the study of sleeping thermal comfort. The bed climate was regularly distributed along with human body segments. To reach a whole body thermal comfort condition inside the bed climate, the deviations from thermal neutrality of different local body parts were obtained. In addition, the thermal comfort zone of indoor environment perceived on the face was wider than that on the covered body. People could be in thermal comfort state when they perceived cool on face, and the indoor temperature could be lower with a higher bedding thermal resistance.