[1] It may lead to phenomena such as houses feeling cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer at the same temperature.
Emissivity is the ability of a surface to emit radiative energy compared to that of a black body at the same temperature.
[2] We will be using the following equation to find out how much heat is lost by a person standing in the same room in summertime as compared to the winter, at exactly the same thermostat reading temperature: Where
is the emissivity (or the ability of an objects surface to emit energy by radiation) of a person,
This equation is only valid for an object standing in a completely enclosed room, box, etc.
[1] In the winter, the amount of heat loss from a person is then 152 Watts if the inner surfaces of the room is, for example, 10 degrees Celsius.
In the summer, the amount of heat loss from a person, when the inner surfaces of the room were 25 degrees Celsius, was found to be 40.9 Watts.
[3][4] It differs from other forms of electromagnetic radiation such as x-rays, gamma rays, microwaves that are not related to temperature.