Differences in Temperature Measurement by Commercial Room Temperature Sensors: Effects of Room Cooling System, Loads, Sensor Type and Position

Thermostats control the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system of a building based on the temperature they measure. Integration with communication network technologies allows wireless sensors to be used as the temperature sensing component of an HVAC system, increasing the flexibility in the selection and positioning of sensors.

This study compared the temperature measuring performance of nine wireless and two conventional wired temperature sensors against reference air and globe temperature sensors in a climate chamber with a two-person office setup. The influence of sensor position, room cooling system (all-air or radiant with ventilation) and cooling load (33, 61 W/m2) was studied.

Sensors placed at the same position had a measurement difference of up to 1.8 K, and assumptions about the type of temperature a sensor measures (air or globe) had the largest impact on the deviation from the reference temperatures. As opposed to common assumptions, conventional wired temperature sensors measured closer to globe temperature sensors and could be a possible indicator for the operative temperature.

When the load settings were high, measurements in radiant system cases had smaller deviations from the reference sensors compared with all-air systems, due to the chilled surface compensating for the radiation from the loads.