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Building Glossary
Although
all three forms of heat movement are important, our winter comfort
depends, in order of importance, on:
1.
Convection
2. Radiation
3.
Conduction
Convection
is heat being carried by air or water.
The
air in a house is much like the water in a bathtub. When the cold water
finally begins to heat up, the water under the faucet is warmer than the
rest of the tub. By swirling the water, we spread the heat throughout the
tub. When the drain is opened, the heat leaves the tub with the water.
The
same thing happens in our home. We send warm air through the supply vents
via our central heating system. We want to keep that warm air in the
house.
Since
most of our homes leak, though, warm air leaves the house through tiny
holes, much like the drain in the tub. Cold air replaces the warm air. Our
heater keeps running. Our utility bills keep climbing.
Radiation
is heat carried on electromagnetic waves. During the winter, heat often
radiates from our bodies.
When
our bodies are exposed to a cold surface, such as 40 degree window glass,
heat radiates (leaves) our body and moves to the cooler surface. Since
radiation is always line of sight, staying covered in winter keeps our
bodies from "seeing" any cold surfaces. .
Conduction
is the passage of heat through an object such as a wall. Anytime we talk
about R-value and insulation, we are referring to conduction.
Conduction
is far more of an issue in regions that have extreme outside temperatures
than DFW. In fact, a very small leak (convection) will transfer far more
heat from a house than a poorly insulated wall in our climate.
How
do we lower our winter utility bills?
The most important energy improvement we can make to our homes for
the winter months is to weatherize.
Weatherization is a very inexpensive retrofit (easily do it yourself) that will decrease our winter utility bills (energy use related to heating--not our base energy use) by an average of 31% according to the the U.S. Department of Energy, However, this is a nationwide figure taking into account the cold north so do not expect this in a southern home. Maybe !5% tops.
Contact Terry Jensen at 972 251-1532 or 817 545-0140.
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972 251-1532
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