Human Body as an Inconstant Heat Source and Its Relation to Determination of Clothes Insulation: Part 1—Descriptive Models of the Heat Source

Abstract

A precise characterization of the thermal resistance of clothes requires an accurate description of the static and dynamic thermal characteristics of the human-heat source. Experimental measurements on the human have revealed a frequency spectrum of sustained thermal power oscillations that mask theoretical long-time equilibrium adjustments. This points to the number of degrees of freedom that must be involved in the thermoregulation of the human, and the specific nonlinear characteristics of the system. Therefore at best, a resistance model for clothes is possible only as an ohmic relation among time-averaged equilibrium values, and for a specific mode of operation of the system. The validity of this hypothesis, however, has not been proved.