Indoor Thermal Environment Long-Term Data Analytics Using IoT Devices in Korean Apartments: A Case Study

IoT-based monitoring devices can transmit real-time and long-term thermal environment data, enabling innovative conversion for the evaluation and management of the indoor thermal environment. However, long-term indoor thermal measurements using IoT-based devices to investigate health effects have rarely been conducted. Using apartments in Seoul as a case study, we conducted long-term monitoring of thermal environmental using IoT-based real-time wireless sensors. We measured the temperature, relative humidity (RH), and CO2 in the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms of each household over one year. In addition, in one of the houses, velocity and globe temperatures were measured for multiple summer and autumn seasons. Results of our present study indicated that outdoor temperature is an important influencing factor of indoor thermal environment and indoor RH is a good indicator of residents’ lifestyle. Our findings highlighted the need for temperature management in summer, RH management in winter, and kitchen thermal environment management during summer and tropical nights. This study suggested that IoT devices are a potential approach for evaluating personal exposure to indoor thermal environmental risks. In addition, long-term monitoring and analysis is an efficient approach for analyzing complex indoor thermal environments and is a viable method for application in healthcare.