Today we visit our village neighbors near our Korat farm. A hot afternoon – temp 35°C (95 F) – and we find them sleeping in hammocks underneath their house. Can they be comfortable? Well they look and act comfortable and according to my CBE Berkeley thermal comfort calculator (you can google this great tool) the average person, dressed very lightly as they are, sedentary or sleeping, with surrounding surfaces at less than 30 deg C (86 F) and with a floor fan turned to medium, should be happy with a temperature of 32 to 34° (91 F). But the saving fact is that the ground temperature, because of its high thermal mass, is only 29 C (84 F) and they are enjoying radiant cooling from underneath their hammocks, which according to the ASHRAE-based tool, put them right smack in the middle of the comfort zone -- with no aircon. We don't need to bring in any race-based factors to explain this("these people are used to it") to reach this conclusion. But we do have to permit a certain afternoon laziness; everything is quiet in the village at this time of day.
