Investigating an effectiveness of using extraction fan for creating thermal comfort in low cost living space / Rusni Abdul Rani

Before air-condition was introduced, Fan is considered to be the best machine to ventilate rooms in building. Most low cost housing estate has made compulsory to install ordinary fan. Without fan, most spaces experience discomfort in their living space as the heat accumulates during the day and generates at night. There is another type of fan which could helps to create comfort. This type of fan which is known as extraction fan is popular to industrial building. Extraction fan is seldom use on domestic building as its usage is applicable only to passive spaces like toilets and stores. Normal use of extraction is to extract hot air and create space vacuum and to fill with cold air moving in from out site. This idea might look practical but the feeling of coldness is always experience from the outside of the building. The outdoor temperature is always colder than the indoor temperature and it refers to our climatic condition. Even though our weather is generally warm, temperature such as Kuala Lumpur is recorded between minimum of 19°C to maximum of 37°C (1). If thermal comfort values are taken as suggested by Ku Azhar, between 23° C to 31 °C, there is a possibility to create thermal comfort in indoor spaces. Preliminary study on non natural ventilation such as using extraction fan, that has been conducted privately and it shows that the process of 'extracting air in' rather than 'extracting air out, works much faster to lower the room temperature. Conventional use of extraction fan by extracting air-out, may need to be redefined it purposes and to introduced a new concept of it usage. Alternatively extraction fan as a non natural ventilator can also produce good thermal comfort space, but not to extract the air out, but instead to extract the air in. The idea is to redefine the usage of Extraction fan for its effectiveness to create comfort living in interior space.