Water Vapor Released by Humans

Related Resources: heat transfer

Water Vapor Released by Humans

Heat Transfer Engineering
Thermodynamics

Water Vapor Released by Human Activity and Plants

Estimating moisture loads requires knowledge of occupancy patterns and releases per individual, activity, plant, and water surface present. In most cases, the real occupancy is unknown, and the sources are even more difficult to quantify. Some activities in the same classification differ in the amount of vapor released (e.g., cooking, which varies with the type of meals prepared). Literature sources only give global average numbers and should therefore be used with care and understanding of the implicit assumptions.

Source	Units	Release, x 10³
Humans Light activity	lb/h	66-130
Humans Medium activity	lb/h	270-440
Humans Hard work	lb/h	440-660
Bathroom Bath (15 min)	lb	130
Bathroom Shower (15 min)	lb	1460
Breakfast preparation for 4 people	lb	350-600
Lunch preparation for 4 people	lb	550-710
Dinner preparation for 4 people	lb	1210-1590
Breakfast dish washing for 4 people	lb	220
Lunch dish washing for 4 people	lb	150
Dinner dish washing for 4 people	lb	680
Simmering pot (diameter 5.9 in., 10 min)	lb	130
Boiling pot (diameter 5.9 in., 10 min)	lb	570
Potted flowers	lb/h per pot	5-20
Potted plants	lb/h per pot	7-30
Laundry
Already spin-dried, until dry	lb/h	40-440
Dripping wet, until dry	lb/h	220-11001
Unvented drier, until dry	lb/h	4700-6390

Sources:

IEA-ECB (1990),
Kumaran and Sanders (2008),
Sanders (1996),
Ten- Wolde and Walker (2001).

References:

Dow Chemical (2001b)