Hypothesis revisited:

Due to the height of theater one in the Bijou, the heat produced rises to the ceiling leaving the seating plane outside the thermal comfort zone of the occupants.

Conclusions:

Based on the research, it is apparent that the seating area at the Bijou is below the average person's comfort level. The hobo readings prove the hypothesis to be true showing that the majority of the heat in the theater raises to the ceiling plane and is not useful to the theater occupants at the seating plane. The temperature at the ceiling plane was measured to be as much as 40 degrees F warmer than the seating plane.
The main factor causing the thermal stratification in the space is due to the heaters being placed approximately 25 feet above the seating plane. The ceiling fans are the only devices used to push the heat produced by the heaters downward onto the occupants. The dramatic temperature swings from the seating plane to the ceiling plane show that this configuration is an inefficient way to effectively heat the space.  A good portion of the heat at the ceiling plane is allowed to escape due to the lack of insulation both in the roof and clerestory windows.  The lack of insulation lets the heat that is produced escape and prevents it from sufficiently heating the entire space.  It is a very inefficient design that wastes a great deal of energy because the heater is required to be on for a longer period of time just to maintain the relative level of comfort at the seating plane.  The extreme temperatures that reach above 100 degrees F produced at the ceiling plane also show this.

Possible design solutions:

There are several design possibilities for increasing the thermal comfort for theater one's occupants.  Two solutions not recommended include lowering the ceiling or installing more powerful ceiling fans.  Both of these solutions would increase the thermal comfort for the occupants yet have negative design aspects.  Lowering the ceiling of theater one would increase the thermal comfort at the seating plane by decreasing the volume for the warmer air to settle.  However, this design change would be detrimental to the space because of its use as a theater, which require high ceilings.  If more powerful ceiling fans were added to push the heat from the heaters down to the occupants’ noise would also be added. Adding noise is undesirable because the quality of sound is so important in a movie theater.
Two design  possibilities that should be taken into consideration are installing heaters lower in the space and adding insulation to the roof and windows.  Installing heaters lower introduces heat directly at the seating plane rather than relying on ceiling fans to push the heat down.  This would eliminate the need for ceiling fans.  Adding insulation to both the windows and the roof plane would also substantially reduce the heat wasted.  The majority of the heat produced escapes through the non-insulated windows and roof.  Insulation would contain the heat resulting in the entire space being more thermally comfortable.

Possible future studies:


 
 

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