Convective heat transfer area of the human body

In order to clarify the heat transfer area involved in convective heat exchange for the human body, the total body surface area of six healthy subjects was measured, and the non-convective heat transfer area and floor and chair contact areas for the following nine common body positions were measured: standing, sitting on a chair, sitting in the seiza position, sitting cross-legged, sitting sideways, sitting with both knees erect, sitting with a leg out, and the lateral and supine positions. The main non-convective heat transfer areas were: the armpits (contact between the upper arm and trunk regions), contact between the two legs, contacts between the fingers and toes, and contact between the hands and the body surface. Also, when sitting on the floor with some degree of leg contact (sitting in the seiza position, cross-legged, or sideways), there was a large non-convective heat transfer area on the thighs and legs. Even when standing or sitting in a chair, about 6–8% of the body surface did not transfer heat by convection. The results showed that the effective thermal convective area factor for the naked whole body in the standing position was 0.942. While sitting in a chair this factor was 0.860, while sitting in a chair but excluding the chair contact area it was 0.918, when sitting in the seiza position 0.818, when sitting cross-legged 0.843, in the sideways sitting position 0.855, when sitting with both knees erect 0.887, in the leg-out sitting position 0.906, while in the lateral position it was 0.877 and the supine position 0.844. For all body positions, the effective thermal convective area factor was greater than the effective thermal radiation area factor, but smaller than the total body surface area.