HUMIDITY ENVIRONMENT IN HOUSES OF ELDERLY IN NIIGATA

室内湿度环境影响着居民的身体健康。适当的湿度条件可以防止流感和皮肤干燥，特别是对老年人来说。本研究报告了在新泻县老年人住宅中测量的湿度环境。在每个季节对12户居民进行了测量，并对居民的湿热环境进行了访谈。结果表明：冬季室内热环境受保温材料、房屋结构和采暖方式的影响差异最大;不同季节居室湿度环境受房屋结构、热工性能和采暖方式的影响差异较大。冬季是全年湿度最低的季节，户内外湿度环境差异最大。冬季室内相对湿度有下降的趋势，在某些情况下下降到30%左右。在冬季，皮肤表面水分和湿度感的“非常干燥”或“中性”程度更高，这表明低湿度的影响。6）在冬季对3个不同湿度环境的房屋进行了测量调查，以研究加湿器对湿度环境的影响。由于各房屋墙体的吸湿情况及其他因素的不同，改变了热环境，因此各房屋的绝对湿度及其加湿前后的变化也各不相同。而室内的湿度感、口渴感和皮肤表面的水合作用则反映了加湿的效果。

The indoor humidity environment influences residents' health. Proper humidity condition prevents influenza and dry skin, especially for people of advanced age. This study reports the humidity environment measured in houses of elderly people in Niigata prefecture. The measurement was conducted in 12 houses in every season and the residents were interviewed on their hygrothermal environment. The purpose of this study is to assess contributing factors of indoor thermal environment and to improve low-humidity environment.1) There was the biggest difference of indoor thermal environment in winter influenced by insulations, structures of houses, and the ways of heating.2) The humidity environment in living rooms was different in each season influenced by structures and thermal performance of houses and the ways of heating. The difference between houses was most notable in winter when the humidity was the lowest in the year.3) The difference of humidity environment between indoor and outdoor was different in each season. There was the smallest difference in summer and the biggest in winter.4) Indoor relative humidity tended to drop to undesirable percentage in winter, around 30 % in some cases. The absolute humidity was around 8g/kg in most cases.5) There was more "very dry" or "neutral" in winter in terms of the skin surface hydration and the sense of humidity, which indicates the influence of low humidity.6) A measurement survey was conducted in winter in three houses with different humidity environment to examine the change of humidity environment by using humidifiers. Since each house had different conditions of hygroscopicity of walls and other factors to change thermal environment, the absolute humidity and its changes before and after humidification was varied between houses. The sense of humidity indoors, thirstiness and skin surface hydration, however, reflected the effect of humidification.