HEATING OUR HOME

We use a variety of ways to heat our homes. I will describe 3 of these methods. I will also explain how they use conduction, convection or radiation or any combination of each.

Conduction is the transfer of thermal energy that occurs when warmer particles come in contact with colder particles and transfer energy to the cooler particles

Convection is the process in which a warm gas or liquid moves from one place to another, carrying heat with it.

Radiation is the transfer of energy in wave like form.

THE THREE METHODS OF HEATING A HOME THAT I HAVE CHOOSEN ARE

• Wood stove heat
• Electric heat
• Hot water radiation

A wood stove is a steel box that comes in different sizes depending on the space you want to heat. You place wood in the stove and catch it on fire. The stove has a door to contain the fire and a pipe that exits the house to remove smoke.

The fire gives off heat waves which is an example of radiation. The heat waves warm the cooler steel which is conduction. Air comes in contact with the warm steel and heats up. The warmer air rises until it cools off and then drops and is heated again. The movement of the warm air is a convection heat transfer.

Electric heat is the use of electricity to heat up a house. One of the most common used heater is the baseboard heater. The heaters are placed along baseboards usually under Windows and next to door ways.

Electricity is used to heat up a metal element in the heater which is conduction. Air enters the heater and is heated up by the element. The warm air rises until it is cooled and then returns to be heated again. This is convection.

Hot water radiation is a process where water is heated and sent through pipes all around the house. These pipes enter into to radiators that give off heat steam from the hot water.

A burner is used to warm the water before it heads through the pipes. A flame gives off waves of heat which is radiation. The pipes that carry the water are warmed up by the hotter water. This is conduction. A wave like heat is given off in the radiator to heat the house. This is also radiation. The movement of the hot water through the lines giving off heat is convection.

Two of the three heat sources that I described used all three heat transfers. Only the electrical heat did not use radiation.