Experimental Study of Indoor Air Temperature in the Laboratory

Abstract

In the university, the laboratory is one of the most important facilities for science-based students. The student will spend their time in laboratories during a session of experiments. Thus, the laboratory indoor air temperature has a huge effect on students’ performance. A comfortable indoor air temperature is more conducive to improve the learning efficiency of the students. The purpose of this present work is to experimental study the evaluation of the performance of indoor air temperature in the selected laboratories of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FME), University Technology Mara, Pulau Pinang with a centralized air-conditioning system in a tropical climate. To carry out this study, indoor air temperature was collected at three zones inside the laboratory. The indoor air temperature values are compared to the limits stated in the Malaysia Standard regarding thermal comfort. The factor that affects indoor air temperature has also been identified in this study. The equipment used to determine indoor air temperature which is Humidity + thermometer + barometer LUTRON MHB-382SD. These results indicate that data collected in the FME laboratories do not comply with the standards that have been standardized by Malaysia Standard. In conclusion, the FME laboratories were declared as poor thermal comfort and some improvement needs to be done.