Do People Like to Feel ‘Neutral’? Systematic Variation of the Desired Sensation on the ASHRAE Scale of Subjective Warmth.

This analysis explores the pattern of variation of the desired thermal sensation on theASHRAE scale, applying for the first time the method of direct enquiry. Data are fromstudies of thermal comfort at university lectures and in dwellings. Respondents reportedboth their thermal sensation and the sensation they would have desired at that time. Thedata contain 868 comparisons of the actual and the desired sensation. On 48% ofoccasions the desired sensation was other than neutral. Respondents did not alwaysdesire the same sensation, and the mean desired sensation differed systematically amongthe respondents. The mean desired sensation varied systematically with the actualsensation, being positively correlated with it in the central region of the scale andnegatively correlated outside this region. Sensations on the ASHRAE scale are shown tohave multiple meaning. Correcting the ASHRAE scale for the desired sensation beforestatistical analysis yields different conclusions about the distribution of thermal comfortand the group-optimum temperature. The correction should therefore be appliedwhenever the ASHRAE scale is used.