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A laboratory validation study of comfort and limit temperatures of four sleeping bags defined according to EN 13537 (2002)

Lin, Li-Yen ; Wang, Faming LU ; Kuklane, Kalev LU ; Gao, Chuansi LU ; Holmér, Ingvar LU and Zhao, Mengmeng (2013) In Applied Ergonomics 44(2). p.321-326
Abstract
In this study, we validated comfort and limit temperatures of four sleeping bags with different levels of insulation defined according to EN 13537. Six male subjects and four female subjects underwent totally 20 two-hour exposures in four sleeping bags at four intended testing temperatures: 11.2, 3.8, 2.1 and -9.0 degrees C. The subjective perceptions and physiological responses of these subjects were reported and analyzed. It was found that the EN 13537 defined comfort temperature and limit temperature were underestimated for sleeping bags MA3, HAG and MAM. The predictions are so conservative that further revision may be required to meet the requirements of both manufacturers and consumers. In contrast, for the sleeping bag MAO with a low... (More)
In this study, we validated comfort and limit temperatures of four sleeping bags with different levels of insulation defined according to EN 13537. Six male subjects and four female subjects underwent totally 20 two-hour exposures in four sleeping bags at four intended testing temperatures: 11.2, 3.8, 2.1 and -9.0 degrees C. The subjective perceptions and physiological responses of these subjects were reported and analyzed. It was found that the EN 13537 defined comfort temperature and limit temperature were underestimated for sleeping bags MA3, HAG and MAM. The predictions are so conservative that further revision may be required to meet the requirements of both manufacturers and consumers. In contrast, for the sleeping bag MAO with a low level of insulation, the limit temperature defined by EN 13537 was slightly overestimated. In addition, two individual case studies (-28.0 and -32.0 degrees C) demonstrated that low toe temperatures were widely observed among the male and female subjects, although the mean skin temperatures were almost within the thermoneutrality range (32.0-34.0 degrees C). It seems that the IREQ model (ISO 11079) overestimated both the comfort and limit temperatures of the sleeping bags. Finally, traditional sleeping bags may be required to be re-designed to provide consumers both whole body comfort as well as local thermal comfort at feet/toes or users need to be made aware of the higher need for their insulation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Sleeping bag, Thermal comfort, EN 13537, Toe temperature, Perception, Modeling
in
Applied Ergonomics
volume
44
issue
2
pages
321 - 326
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000311179100019
  • scopus:84868149604
  • pmid:23021632
ISSN
1872-9126
DOI
10.1016/j.apergo.2012.09.001
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fe8811a2-8050-494b-bf83-fb50078e7eec (old id 3401228)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:23:08
date last changed
2022-03-21 23:45:10
@article{fe8811a2-8050-494b-bf83-fb50078e7eec,
  abstract     = {{In this study, we validated comfort and limit temperatures of four sleeping bags with different levels of insulation defined according to EN 13537. Six male subjects and four female subjects underwent totally 20 two-hour exposures in four sleeping bags at four intended testing temperatures: 11.2, 3.8, 2.1 and -9.0 degrees C. The subjective perceptions and physiological responses of these subjects were reported and analyzed. It was found that the EN 13537 defined comfort temperature and limit temperature were underestimated for sleeping bags MA3, HAG and MAM. The predictions are so conservative that further revision may be required to meet the requirements of both manufacturers and consumers. In contrast, for the sleeping bag MAO with a low level of insulation, the limit temperature defined by EN 13537 was slightly overestimated. In addition, two individual case studies (-28.0 and -32.0 degrees C) demonstrated that low toe temperatures were widely observed among the male and female subjects, although the mean skin temperatures were almost within the thermoneutrality range (32.0-34.0 degrees C). It seems that the IREQ model (ISO 11079) overestimated both the comfort and limit temperatures of the sleeping bags. Finally, traditional sleeping bags may be required to be re-designed to provide consumers both whole body comfort as well as local thermal comfort at feet/toes or users need to be made aware of the higher need for their insulation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Lin, Li-Yen and Wang, Faming and Kuklane, Kalev and Gao, Chuansi and Holmér, Ingvar and Zhao, Mengmeng}},
  issn         = {{1872-9126}},
  keywords     = {{Sleeping bag; Thermal comfort; EN 13537; Toe temperature; Perception; Modeling}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{321--326}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Applied Ergonomics}},
  title        = {{A laboratory validation study of comfort and limit temperatures of four sleeping bags defined according to EN 13537 (2002)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2012.09.001}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.apergo.2012.09.001}},
  volume       = {{44}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}