Influence of background factors on occupants’ preferences for local conditioning at high temperatures

Abstract

Local conditioning improves thermal comfort in high-temperature environments. Although several studies have examined the effects of environmental factors on local conditioning, the influences of individual background factors remain unclear. This study conducted a two-month retrospective questionnaire survey of 2247 participants across 16 Chinese cities to examine how five individual background factors influence behaviors toward local conditioning. The findings revealed that age (odds ratio (OR) = 1.612) significantly influenced the willingness to adopt local conditioning. Male (OR = 1.609), well-educated (OR = 2.592), high-income (OR = 1.82), and younger (OR = 1.754) participants preferred fast-responding local conditioning. Additionally, region (OR = 1.126), age (OR = 1.114), and gender (OR = 1.503) influenced the placement of convective devices, whereas only gender (OR = 1.358) significantly influenced radiant device placement. Our findings confirmed that individual background factors affect various aspects of local conditioning device usage, including parameter settings and usage duration. Notably, usage duration was the least influential factor, with the education factor (OR = 1.435) having a significant effect. These findings provide insights for designing personalized thermal comfort strategies, as well as optimizing the design and control of local conditioning devices to enhance energy efficiency and thermal comfort.