Projects per year
Abstract
There is said to be a strong relationship between low winter fuel consumption and in- creased cold-related morbidities and mortalities in the elderly. However, no study has so far investigated baseline domestic thermal conditions, energy and health in this de- mographic - a crucial gap given an ageing population. Hence we examine, for the first time, the validity of current thermal comfort standards and World Health Organisation minimum temperature thresholds in the 65+ demographic, through a longitudinal study of thermal conditions in homes of the elderly. We cover two typical winters using repeated monthly surveys and continuous temperature monitoring in living and bed rooms. Results demonstrate that the widely used ISO7730 model significantly underpredicts comfort in this demographic. We use our data to create a new model for the elderly, with a 40% lower error rate. Using calibrated computer models, we demonstrate that our model predicts a 44% reduction in winter heating demand, compared to the current model. Finally, our data provides little evidence for an association between low indoor temperature and healthcare visits for a variety of morbidities. These results question current assumptions around thermal comfort and health in the elderly, with potential implications for health and energy policy.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 110954 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-14 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Energy Policy |
Volume | 134 |
Early online date | 4 Sept 2019 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 30 Nov 2019 |
Keywords
- Ageing population
- Health
- Temperature standards
- Thermal comfort
- Winter heating
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Energy
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Winter thermal comfort and health in the elderly'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Newton Fund - Zero Peak Building Energy Design for India
Natarajan, S. (PI), Coley, D. (CoI), Davenport, J. (CoI), McCullen, N. (CoI) & Walker, I. (CoI)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
1/11/17 → 31/10/22
Project: Research council
Profiles
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Sukumar Natarajan
- Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering - Professor
- Centre for Regenerative Design & Engineering for a Net Positive World (RENEW) - Centre Director
- Centre for Digital, Manufacturing & Design (dMaDe)
- Centre for Climate Adaptation & Environment Research (CAER)
- Centre for Bioengineering & Biomedical Technologies (CBio)
- Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems (SES)
Person: Research & Teaching, Core staff, Affiliate staff
Datasets
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Dataset for "Winter thermal comfort and health in the elderly"
Hughes, C. (Creator), Natarajan, S. (Creator), Liu, C. (Creator), Chung, W. (Creator) & Herrera Fernandez, M. (Creator), University of Bath, 4 Sept 2019
DOI: 10.15125/BATH-00537
Dataset