Methods and Ways to Heat a Building
Homes and public places have been heated for centuries just to keep warmth; it may be right to say that house heating is as old as when man discovered fire. Cave men and bush men made fire with twig, grass, wood and stones in order to keep them warm from the blitzing winter weather in most northern and southern hemisphere and the dry cold harmatan wind in sub-Saharan Africa. During these periods, open flames have been the most reliable way to withstand extreme cold conditions by man. Therefore the use of wood and coal as source of heat has a very long history. Wood as we know, when ignited can produce irritating smoke while on the other hand, coal when used in a poorly ventilated room could cause seizure and even death. This system of heating a house surely has its very many demerits. The environmental issues associated with the use of wood and coal has left more to be desired; for example for wood to be used as source of heat, trees must be cut and this has led to deforestation and in extreme cases desertification. Coal mining has left many mining borough pits that are difficult to reclaim and are death traps for children and adults alike. Also the use of wood is an open system where flames being naked could cause accidents of monumental proportions.
It should be of importance to note that the use of coal and woods as source of heat is still being practiced, but they are being replaced by more conventional systems that ensure that heat produced can be distributed throughout the building. Over the years, stoves and homes have been designed in such a way that smoke from wood could be let out with the use of outlet like chimneys and pipes.
There are various systems adopted to keep up the temperature of homes and buildings, these systems has its advantages as well as demerits but the focus is on the advances made so far in the quest to keep warm during extreme weather.
Solar Heating Method
There is the direct use of sun as source of heat in homes where the sun cannot be stored or used for later use. House built with this method in mind are mostly built with glass windows, doors and walls. This ensures direct passage of sunlight through transparent barriers. This method can only be effective during the day and not at night, during seasons like winter and autumn, this method can not be relied upon.
The most effective method of solar heating is the passive solar heating system which uses electricity for better performance. It comprises of heat pumps, solar collector, storage tanks, transfer, gather and distributing controls and exchanger. Concrete and marble serve as heat collectors and storage. These thermal surfaces are usually faced south of the building in order to collect more heat easily.
Geothermal Heating
The earth is the source of the heat energy. With this method pipes are installed underground a building with absorbing fluids to absorb the heat. The heated fluid is pumped into homes where an exchanger extracts the warmth and with the aid of fan, the heat is distributed round the house. This is environmentally friendly as no harmful substances are released, it is efficient, quiet, clean, save and cheap to maintain.
Woodstove Heating
This method is widely used all over the world. Its main source of heat is wood which are arranged below and lit, the chamber can be built into a building with chimney as its channel out or in some cases, it is build separate from the house in a metal case. This case has three compartment; the wood area which is below, the flame area just above the wood chamber. The flame can be covered with thick metal or with fire-resistant glass and the channel where air is let out. It can be made of pipe through a chimney or direct to the chimney.
Outdoor Furnace
The system is more like the woodstove but bigger and is placed outside the house because of its size and materials used. Apart from wood, coal and also used. Pipe is used to transfer heat from the furnace into the building. A fan is used to distribute the heat round.
Underfloor Heating System
The system is based on conduction and radiant heat. It involves the heating up of homes from underfloor system, it is a central in that heat is evenly distributed to all other rooms. The heat is transferred from its source either kitchen or outdoor furnace. This method has a long history as it has been used for centrally heating up a home and can store heat for a long time ranging from days to months. The Romans were the first to advance this method when they used it to heat public baths. Here, the floor is constructed with layers of concrete chunks or slabs supported by small pillars in columns. A furnace is positioned at one end of the wall, and then fire is passed through the holes erected. Heat is transferred by convection from the concrete slabs upward into various rooms. At the other end of the house is an exit for smoke and air, most preferably, chimneys are used were air can leave the building. The problem associated with this system is the removal of ashes. Also twigs are used instead of wood, because twigs allow easy flow and distribution of air than wood. Syrian engineers improved upon this method and developed a superior method for central heating where pipes are conveyor for heat from furnace into rooms in a building.
In Korea, the use of underfloor heating system is still very much alive. This has been part of their culture for centuries. The Korean underfloor heating system is called OndoI (warm stone). This system utilises excess heat from cooking stoves from the kitchen. It is made up of: stove (usually located below the floor level at about one metre, while the rooms are elevated to allow the flue to flow through underneath), smoke passage (horizontal) and chimney (vertical). There are network of flue passage that transport heat from the kitchen to rooms. These flues are enveloped with flat, thin, wide stones called KuduI(fired stone). On the top of the kuduI are layers of yellow paper sheets pasted on the floor. This ensures quick transportation of heat through each room, and heat can be retained for along period.
Electric Heating Systems
This method employs the use of thermostat as its source of heat, and the heat is transported through rooms with the aid of pipes or fans as the case may be. Portable heating fans are available; they are specially designed for small rooms where the heat needed is not much. Apart from using fan or pipes for distribution of heated air, hot water can also be used to heat buildings. Heated water is passed through pipes that are laid into the floor, but problems associated with this are that in some cases the water stops flowing through due to the presence of bubbles. Therefore, the installation of purge pump is encouraged. This purge pump is activated whenever there is stagnation in the flow of water and shuts off when circulation is restored in the system. Apart from the use of electricity there is no other cost required to manage this system.
Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
The advent of technology is gradually replacing the older methods for heating up buildings and this method is very effective for high rising building and for large building apartments. Insulated pipes are used to convey heat in and out of buildings. And it should be of not that this ventilation system are now computerized in that the fall and rise in temperature and automatic and can be controlled from a computer unit in the building.
Feeling warmth is part of human nature, so when planning on home you want to live in don't forget this important aspect of live.
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