Thermal comfort before and at the beginning of heating at office rooms in china severe cold zone

A continuous field survey was conducted at 19 office rooms in 6 buildings in Harbin from September to late November in 2013, in order to investigate the thermal environment and human thermal responses before and at the beginning of heating. 24 subjects participated in the survey. 195 questionnaires were collected. The results show that the thermal neutral temperature before and after space heating was 22.6°C and 20.9°C, respectively. The thermal expectation temperature was 23.9°C before heating, 2°C higher relative to the early heating period. The subjects felt dryer and more uncomfortable, and expected lower indoor temperature after space heating compared with the early heating period. The high indoor temperature during the heating period made people open windows to improve their thermal comfort, and caused waste of energy. People wore more clothes indoor to adapt to outdoor cold climate, although indoor temperatures went up in winter Harbin.