Indoor Thermal Performance of Ventilated Dwellings Using Fly Screens in the Hot-Humid Climate of Chennai, India

In a hot-humid tropical climate, indoor thermal performance can be enhanced by comfort ventilation. Indoor ventilation depends upon building opening size. But risks involved in providing openings include ingress of mosquitoes and insects which thrive in the tropical climate. A practical and prevalent option to prevent insects in ventilated dwellings of the tropical, hot-humid city of Chennai, India is through the use of fly screens. Fly screens, when used over openings, prevent a certain quantum of solar radiation and wind from entering inside the rooms. Reduced direct solar radiation prevents the indoors from heating up, while reduced wind movement prevents the cross ventilation. Therefore, it is important to know the indoor thermal performance of ventilated rooms in the presence of fly screens with changing opening sizes. The criterion to evaluate indoor thermal performance in this paper is indoor air temperature. The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of fly screens on openings with varying sizes, in a naturally ventilated dwelling in the hot-humid climate of Chennai, India, during the summer period. The results of the study show that fly screens raise the indoor air temperature when openings are in the range of 100% to 35% of the room floor area. There is no significant change in the indoor air temperature when the opening sizes are less than 30% of the room floor area.