Vote 1 - Thermal Comfort

It's fair to say Australians really didn't seem to know what they wanted at the last federal Australia election yet we voted like the good little citizens that we are and now we can marvel on a daily basis at what democracy has produced...

Makes you want to withdraw back into the comfort of your own home and ignore the madness. However, what makes your home comfortable? Not surprising our perceptions of comfort, including "thermal comfort" differ from person to person.  But don't panic, like all good reality shows, you can vote and the researchers will happily listen. As far as I am aware though, no-one get evicted however in the UK, the government is currently worrying about it in their Fuel Poverty Strategy. It appears the Brits don't want anyone living in a home where the occupants cannot afford to heat the rooms to at least 18 degrees in winter.

Once upon a time we didn't have that wang-fangled air-conditioning thing (blowing cold or hot air for that matter).  However, with its advent came a need to define thermal comfort - it's hard to sell a product which creates a condition you cannot define! Enter the ASHRAE Scale and the Bedford Comfort Scale (the Yanks v the Brits) which essential provide alternative tools to vote for your level of comfort in the space in which you occupy (hot, warm, slightly warm, neutral, slightly cool, cool, cold or variations on that theme) and someone can measure and quantify it. Effectively using all the votes, they can calculate a mean comfort vote (something to do with average, rather than being malicious).

Here's where it gets more complicated than just voting (unless you like to vote below the line in the Senate). There are six basic elements which will affect your perception of thermal comfort - ambient air temperature, mean radiant temperature, air movement, clothing level, humidity and metabolic activity.

It's not an exact science but an interesting one, illustrated best by those working in the field. While running a workshop for a paper, the heating in the building had failed and each workshop participant (each a recognised expert) was asked to estimate the internal temperature of the building. Their guesses ranged from 9 to 20 degrees. The thermometer read 15.5 degrees.