PhD Studentship: Biomedical Engineering: Infra Red Heating Systems, Human Thermal Comfort and Behaviour

Infrared heating heats people and surfaces directly, without heating the air in between. Thus, it is claimed that radiant heating can provide thermal comfort at lower internal air temperatures, thereby saving home and industrial energy. Furthermore, rapid response rates could enable heating to be delivered only where and when a room is occupied. These factors have led to claims by manufacturers of IR efficiencies like heat pumps. Currently the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) attributes infrared heating the same CO2 equivalent as direct electrical heating. However, it is currently unclear if this is the case. As this is the methodology used by government to assess and compare the energy and environmental performance of dwellings, the current rating disincentivises developers from specifying the technology, hence there is a drive from the industry to address this.

To answer this question requires an interdisciplinary approach, combining Industry input alongside physical sciences and physiological assessment of human temperature.

Indoor thermal comfort is perceived in humans with wide variance, by a variety of methods and does not have one industry standardised validated method. Equally, the current standard for testing the radiant efficiency of low temperature radiant heaters (BSEN 60675-3 (2021)) does not consider human thermal comfort. Humans are radiant objects. More than 60% of the sense of comfort or discomfort is governed by their radiant heat gain or loss, only 15% by air temperature and movement. This means a human may express feelings of warmth if either they are absorbing heat from the environment or reducing the radiation of body heat to it. For most people, the body is either gaining or losing too much body heat if the environment is more than 26°C or less than 16°C, with associated feelings of discomfort.

At Swansea University we can monitor a range of perceptual, physiological and temperature parameters, alongside an array of other physiological monitoring tools to measure energy expenditure, and in blood sampling under thermoneutral or hyperthermic environments. In addition, SPECIFIC is an Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) based at Swansea University who focus on energy technology research particularly in developing "Active Buildings." These buildings are designed to generate, store, and release their own renewable energy, aiming to reduce carbon emissions and address energy challenges. SPECIFIC have constructed a climatically controlled room capable of measuring the flow of electrical inputs and thermal outputs accurately independent of outdoor conditions.

Combined, the ability to sensitively evaluate a human's perception of thermal comfort under well controlled environments offers an opportunity to develop protocols that seek to evaluate human thermal regulation and comfort in response to different infra-red radiant heat environments.

Our aim with this co-funded PhD studentship is to:

• Establish a pilot working methods for a reliable determination of infrared heating systems performance in situ.
• Establish standard operating procedures to allow for objective assessment of heating system effects on perceived thermal comfort and associated physiological responses in different population subgroups e.g. young, old, male, female etc.
• Develop a database of participants responses to infra-red heating. Providing rapid, responsive heating of individuals could drastically reduce space heating energy requirements while increasing thermal comfort.

Reduced upfront costs and a potential reduction in running costs could provide a viable heating alternative in IR heating, particularly for those facing fuel poverty.

Funding

Covers full tuition, £20,780 stipend (2025/26), plus up to £1,000 yearly for research costs.