RESPONSE TO ATMOSPHERIC HUMIDITY AT COMFORTABLE AIR TEMPERATURE: A COMPARISON OF THREE EXPERIMENTS

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Abstract
Three experiments on subjective responses to atmospheric humidity at comfortable air temperatures are compared. The first of the three experiments has already been reported; the second and third are described in detail. In the second experiment, 24 sedentary subjects were exposed to each of six levels of relative humidity (r.h.), from 20 to 70%, for 1½ h at a temperature of 23°C. The third experiment was similar, exapt that the exposure time was increased to 5 h, and each subject attended only once. Five levels of humidity from 20 to 60% r.h. were used, and 21 subjects experienced each level. In both experiments, the subjects described their feelings on a number of seven point rating scales. Of the three experiments, the first two agreed in finding that both low and high humidities were rated as worse than the middle levels of 40–50%, on such scales as oppressiveness and stuffiness. Subjects also rated their skins as more moist in the more humid conditions. The third experiment failed to confirm these findings. The implications are discussed.

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