A low-cost infrared measurement system has been developed to monitor in real time thermal comfort conditions in indoor environments. The device employs a scanning linear array of thermopiles installed on the ceiling of the room and is assessed and controlled by an embedded microcontroller to measure indoor surface temperatures. This feature allows the evaluation of the mean radiant temperature ( T r ), in compliance with ISO 7726, for several positions inside the space. Together with T r , the variables required by ISO 7730 are measured to calculate the predicted mean vote (PMV). The PMV and T r are provided as real-time outputs of the device through a wireless or wired connection, also as distribution maps. The paper reports a detailed description of the system, its calibration and uncertainty analysis. The capability of predicting thermal comfort conditions for multiple positions in the room has been tested and validated in a real case study with respect to a reference measurement system (microclimate station). Comparison showed a deviation of ±0.5 °C for T r and ±0.1 for PMV without direct solar radiation and an average deviation of ±2.0 °C for T r and ±0.2 for PMV with direct solar radiation.
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Revel et al. (2014) studied this question.