10 Aug What is the Difference between Radiant and Convective Heat?
Posted at 19:46h
in Uncategorized
What is the Difference between Radiant and Convective Heat?
During the cold winter months, having a fireplace in your home can be immensely helpful for keeping your family warm and setting the right mood for the holiday season. A couple of different types of fireplaces available through Kozy Heat can make your home cozier and more inviting: a wood fireplace and a direct vent gas fireplace. These fireplaces produce two different types of heat: radiant heat and convective heat, respectively.
Radiant Heat
A wood fireplace is known for producing radiant heat. One way of thinking about radiant heat is that it is the heat you feel coming from the sun. Radiant heating involves transferring radiant energy to an object from a source that emits heat. In other words, a wood fireplace radiates heat directly onto nearby objects and thus helps to transfer heat to your home. How completely the wood is burned and how effectively your wood-burning appliance transfers heat to the house ultimately determines its level of efficiency.
Additional Radiant Heating Information
A wood fireplace is essentially a space heater, so it is best to have one installed in the particular room where you typically spend most of your time during the winter months. Note that the location of your fireplace, as well as your chimney, does influence how effectively heat will be conserved and distributed in your house. A main advantage of a wood fireplace is that it can fit into a smaller area, and today’s options are relatively easy to use.
Convective Heat
Convective heat refers to the warmth you feel when a fan is running and pushing air out of the top of a louver or grill. A hair dryer is an example of a convective heat device. A convective heating device, unlike a radiant heating device, essentially features what is known as a heat-transfer system. This system functions by circulating air through the heating appliance and then distributing it, therefore heating your house’s air supply. Direct vent gas fireplaces usually rely on convection to heat homes.
Direct Vent Gas Fireplace
A direct vent gas fireplace features a combustion chamber that is sealed and thus prevents combustion gases from entering your room. In addition, the system draws combustion air from the outside instead of pulling in essential warm air from indoors. This means a direct vent gas fireplace can be installed in any of your home’s rooms, including bathrooms and bedrooms. Direct vent gas fireplaces from Kozy Heat offer the benefit of removing the propensity for heat loss and drafts, which is common with other fireplace models. This makes them an extremely popular choice among homeowners today.
