Assessment of thermal environment in a kitchen with a new ventilation system

Chinese kitchen environment is usually hot and humid in summer and cold in winter, while housewife spends considerable time there. This investigation developed a new ventilation system for Chinese kitchens to improve thermal comfort level. To assess the thermal performance of the ventilation system, 32 cooks were asked to prepare the same dishes in the kitchen with or without the system in summer in Changsha, China. The assessment was carried out by subjective questionnaire survey on thermal sensation vote (TSV) and objective on-site measurements of the indoor air temperature and cook's skin temperature. The indoor air temperature was measured at different locations in the kitchen. The skin temperature was measured at 18 body parts of the cooks. The results show that the thermal environment in the kitchen was non-uniform and local thermal sensation had a great influence on the whole body sensation. Without the new ventilation system, the cooks complained that the hottest parts were thorax, head and face areas. Reasonably good correlation existed between the cooks' skin temperatures and their thermal sensation votes. The increase of cooks' skin temperature with the ventilation system was lower than that without the ventilation system. TSV was improved with the new ventilation system.