Energy consumption and comfort in homes

Abstract

Indoor environment in buildings affects human comfort; however, most literature is aimed at environmental conditions dealing with thermal, acoustical, visual, and air quality parameters. Since a majority of domestic energy consumption is related to water and spatial heating, most research on comfort has focused on its thermal dimension, which in its turn is heavily influenced by physiological aspects while socio-psycho-cultural aspects are often disregarded. Similarly, energy behaviour is researched with a focus on economics and engineering. The link between energy consumption and comfort tends to be bridged by the thermal parameter since: a) heating represents the majority of the consumption and b) people mainly report thermal elements as a theme in home comfort-making, such as clothing, bathing, place temperature, and ventilation. This paper is a literature study aimed at exploring further dimensions of comfort and energy consumption at homes in terms of their interactions with each other and as multidisciplinary subjects. It is suggested that comfort and energy behaviours are more complex than its technicalphysiological parameters and that when studying both topics as multidimensional and interrelating concepts, missing links from other disciplines could be discovered, which can allow for more comfortable and healthy environments, and for more comprehensive strategies for better energy behaviours.