Investigation on the occupant behaviors of split air conditioners in public institutions in china

Split air conditioners are widely utilized in public institutions. However, due to the high degree of randomness in occupant behaviors, formulating efficient energy-saving control strategies has proven to be challenging. To address this problem, this study investigated the occupant behaviors related to split air conditioners in public institutions in China, aiming to offer technical support for energy-saving control. First, the tolerance temperature range of occupants in the public institution was determined. The lower tolerance temperature limit was found to be 28 °C, and the upper limit was 30.5 °C. A comparative analysis revealed that the tolerance temperature range in the public institution is narrower than that in residential buildings. Statistical results indicated that the turn-on and adjustment operations of split air conditioners in the public institution exhibit distinct periodicity and fluctuations, with a significant lag of approximately 30 minutes. When adjusting the indoor temperature in the public institution, the temperature set point approximately follows a normal distribution. Most of the temperature set points are concentrated in the range of 23 °C to 28 °C, with a relatively small temperature regulation difference.