Assessment of thermal comfort under transitional conditions

•Inquiry into thermal sensation and comfort assessments under transitional states.•Change in TSV right after a transition is consistent with the respective temperature difference.•Change in TCV right after a transition is consistent with a proposed measure Δθeff.•Transition-related net thermal distance to comfort temperature predicts the TCV change right after transition.

This paper explores thermal comfort assessments under transitional states. Toward this end, multiple groups of participants moved in a laboratory building through a number of spaces with different thermal conditions. The thermal sensation and comfort evaluations of the participants were assessed before transition, immediately after the spatial transition, and after a short period of adaptation. The main objective of the study was to compare participants' thermal comfort assessments immediately after a spatial transition with those of thermally adapted participants. The results suggest that changes in people's thermal sensation vote (TSV) subsequent to a thermally relevant transition from one room to another, are consistent with the temperature difference between the two rooms. Transition-related changes in thermal comfort vote (TCV), however, are more consistent with a proposed new measure of the “thermal distance” between the two rooms, namely the effective temperature difference (Δθeff). This measure compares the distance to comfort temperature before and after the transition.