The effects of variation in body temperature on the preferred water temperature and flow rate during showering

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of body temperature variations on subjects' preferred water temperature and flow rate during showers. Nine healthy women students took a shower before and after physical exercise (running on a treadmill for 30 min) and water immersion (immersing in the water of 25^°C temperature for 30 min). During each shower, the subject was instructed to adjust both the water temperature and flow rate of a shower to suit their comfort. Rectal temperature and skin temperatures of the subjects, water temperature, and flow rate of the shower were measured during the experiments. The means of preferred water temperature during showers were 40·2^°C and 43·8^°C before and after water immersion respectively, which were significantly different. On the other hand, there was little difference in the preferred water temperature between before and after the treadmill exercise. There were no significant differences in the flow rates between before and after both water immersion and the treadmill exercise. A significant negative relationship was observed between the mean body temperature (T¯_b) and the preferred water temperature during showers (r=−0·439). On the other hand, no significant relationship was found between T¯_b and the preferred flow rate. Moreover, a significant negative relationship was observed between the preferred water temperature and the flow rate during showers (r=−0·528).

Keywords:

• Shower
• Body temperature
• Thermal comfort