Field Investigation on Indoor Thermal Environment at a Rural Passive Solar House in Severe Cold Area of China

This paper focuses on a field investigation on indoor environment at a rural passive solar house in Yushu City, Jilin Province in the severe cold region of China. The air temperature and relative humidity at the solar house were monitored from Dec. 15th, 2014 to Mar. 15th, 2015. During the period, the authors went to the solar house every 3 or 4 weeks, manually measuring the air temperature, relative humidity, air speed, globe temperature and surface temperatures of exterior window and Kang. Besides the solar house, three energy-saving houses and two old rural houses were investigated. Peasants’ thermal responses were surveyed by questionnaires at the meantime.The results showed that the mean indoor air temperature of the solar house was 13.7 °C, close to the design temperature of 14°C for rural houses in the severe cold areas of China. And the mean temperature of an old rural house monitored was only 10.5°C. The average relative humidity was 65.3% at the solar house, while it was 90.9% at the old rural house. Peasants in the solar house and energy-saving houses commonly felt warm, while peasants in the old houses mostly felt neutral or cool. So the solar walls had a positive effect on improving indoor thermal environment. The mean indoor air temperatures in the energy-saving houses and the solar house are higher than in the old houses. Peasants adapted to a relatively poor indoor environment by behavioral adjustments and mental preferences.