Abstract

Day and night comfort votes were recorded from Caucasian residents at Weipa, a mission station in the hot humid tropics of North Queensland, Australia. The limit of day comfort for more than 50% of the men was 81·5°F. (27·5°C.) “normal” corrected effective temperature; the night limit was 78·0°F. (25·5°C.). Day comfort limits correlated well with air conditions at which sweat was apparent: night limits correlated with the amount of bed covering. Evidence of a change over 14 days in day comfort limit was found. Limitations in the effective temperature scale for expressing the “oppressive nature” of night air conditions are pointed out. Criticism is voiced of the use of dry bulb temperature instead of the effective temperature scale in conditions of high wet bulb temperatures with high relative humidity, such as in the hot humid tropics.