Study on the influence of climatic thermal exposure environment changed from cold to hot on human thermal preference

An experimental study on the influence of climatic thermal exposure on human thermal preference was carried out. Fifty-one Chinese female migrants were recruited in Australia and divided into two groups according to their recent climatic exposures. Group A comprised subjects who had arrived in Sydney's summer from China's winter within two weeks prior the experiment whereas Group B subjects had resided in Sydney for longer than two weeks. Subjects participated in an individual climate chamber experiment lasting 2 h. Preferred temperature was determined by adjusting the temperature every 10 min according to the subject's stated thermal preferences. It was found that the preferred temperatures/preferred standard effective temperatures (SET*) of Group A and Group B were 25.4/24.7 °C and 25.7/25.2 °C, respectively, and the corresponding mean skin temperatures were 32.8 °C and 33.2 °C. Furthermore, the individual differences and the effects of previous thermal experience were discussed. It indicated that the recent cold exposure would decrease the preferred temperature and the corresponding skin temperature. And it took about 1 week to adapt to a hot climate after transition from cold climate. The results of this study could provide supports and references for further exploration of thermal adaptation mechanism.