An effective method to determine bedding system insulation based on measured data

The thermal environment is an essential factor that affects sleep quality.In many circumstances,the bed microenvironment is more important than the ambient environment because of the large covered area of the human body and the close contact between the bedding system and the human body.The main objective of this research is to establish an effective method to determine bedding system insulation.A thermal manikin was used in the measurement of bedding system insulation.Three different types of quilts,which were filled with cotton,polyester and duvet respectively,were chosen to be tested.In total ten different quilts with different materials and weights were involved in the test.Four regular arrangements of covers were chosen with coverage rates of 94.1%,85.9%,70.6%,and 54.4%to test.A total of 64 bedding systems were tested to build an effective method to determine the bedding system insulation.On the basis of test data,the change of bedding system insulation with coverage was found to be nonlinear.Exponential fitting was applied to establish an insulation evaluation method for bedding system insulation.In addition,the effects of quilt cover and sleepwear on bedding system insulation were discussed and thermal insulation increment caused by quilt cover and sleepwear were estimated.The relationships between neutral indoor temperature and weight per unit area of the quilt for different coverage rates have been quantified based on existing subject experiments.This research provides an effective method to determine bedding system insulation,which can be widely used in thermal comfort research and HVAC system design.