The elderly and their indoor environment: Use of thermal comfort models to determine occupant satisfaction.

In the winter of 2014-15 an estimated 43,900 excess winter deaths occurred, 85% of which were in older people. There is a clear link between cold homes and poor health, especially in older people, as sub-optimally heated homes increase the risk of health problems that are particularly prevalent in this demographic. By 2050 a quarter of the UK population will be aged 65 and over, with the greatest population increases being seen in the octogenarian and older categories. Investigating thermal comfort in the over 65 demographic is key to ensuring that older people are able to stay healthy and comfortable in their homes. To date, thermal comfort models are based on working age populations habiting office buildings throughout a working day. This paper seeks to validate how suitable current thermal comfort models are in predicting comfort levels of older people in their homes. In this study indoor temperature data from 30 homes occupied by people aged 65 and over, together with thermal comfort data was collected during the measurement period November 2016 to March 2017. This data enabled the theoretical outputs from Fanger’s model to be correlated with the measured temperatures to validate the model.