Understanding What Kilowatt (Electrical) Really Means
Tuesday, 27 July 2010 07:13 | 
Written by Barbara Long |
Electric heating can be defined as an electrical appliance that converts electrical energy into heat. The one thing that drives me crazy is that I see some electric heaters advertised as 20% more efficient than another electric heater. The bottom line in all of this is that the amount of BTU's that can be produced from a kilowatt of electric is defined by the laws of physics.
Electric heating can be defined as an electrical appliance that converts electrical energy into heat. The one thing that drives me crazy is that I see some electric heaters advertised as 20% more efficient than another electric heater. The bottom line in all of this is that the amount of BTU's that can be produced from a kilowatt of electric is defined by the laws of physics.
Take any kilo watt of electrical and change it to heat and you get 3415 Btu per Kw. This fact can't be changed or modified. So for any person to make declarations of their electrical heater being better than the subsequent guy's is totally fake.
There are numerous paths to deliver the heat and the may make some difference in how you feel from the heat being delivered. Electrical heaters that use infra-red technology could make you feel hotter without basically heating the air surrounding you. Heaters that use oil to hold or ceramic to hold the heat may radiate heat even if the part isn't on causing you to feel warm although the component is not producing rather more heat. So there are several popular techniques to heat, but the final analysis is that the amount of BTU's produced by each on an equal basis will be 3415 BTU's per KW.
The exception to this is the modern heat pump. A heat pump is an appliance that utilises an electrically-driven compressor to power a refrigeration cycle that extracts heat power from the outside air or from the ground or ground water. The heat is then moved to the space being heated. Heat pumps can be way more efficient than electrical resistance heating.
An alternate way to save a bit is a storage heating system that takes virtue of less expensive electricity costs. You use electrical during low demand periods such as overnite to build heat in a storage stone or water. This heat is then removed from the stone or water in the daytime when the electrical costs more.
When thinking about electrical heating always recall that a fossil-fuelled power plant may only deliver four units of electric energy for each ten units of fuel energy released. Even if you employ an one hundred percent efficient electrical heater, the quantity of fuel needed to make the level of heat required, is more than if the fuel was burned in a furnace or boiler at the building being heated. The quantity of electrical that's lost by substation transformers and transmission lines is just about two / three 3rds of what was at first produced at the power plant.
Electrical heating can be good in a number of cases, but in numerous eventualities it's not a responsible use of our resources. Also, don't believe the claims that one electrical resistance heater is better than any other. One KW of electricity will always convert to 3415 BTU's of heat.
Electric heating can be defined as an electrical appliance that converts electrical energy into heat. The one thing that drives me crazy is that I see some electric heaters advertised as 20% more efficient than another electric heater. The bottom line in all of this is that the amount of BTU's that can be produced from a kilowatt of electric is defined by the laws of physics.
Take any kilo watt of electrical and change it to heat and you get 3415 Btu per Kw. This fact can't be changed or modified. So for any person to make declarations of their electrical heater being better than the subsequent guy's is totally fake.
There are numerous paths to deliver the heat and the may make some difference in how you feel from the heat being delivered. Electrical heaters that use infra-red technology could make you feel hotter without basically heating the air surrounding you. Heaters that use oil to hold or ceramic to hold the heat may radiate heat even if the part isn't on causing you to feel warm although the component is not producing rather more heat. So there are several popular techniques to heat, but the final analysis is that the amount of BTU's produced by each on an equal basis will be 3415 BTU's per KW.
The exception to this is the modern heat pump. A heat pump is an appliance that utilises an electrically-driven compressor to power a refrigeration cycle that extracts heat power from the outside air or from the ground or ground water. The heat is then moved to the space being heated. Heat pumps can be way more efficient than electrical resistance heating.
An alternate way to save a bit is a storage heating system that takes virtue of less expensive electricity costs. You use electrical during low demand periods such as overnite to build heat in a storage stone or water. This heat is then removed from the stone or water in the daytime when the electrical costs more.
When thinking about electrical heating always recall that a fossil-fuelled power plant may only deliver four units of electric energy for each ten units of fuel energy released. Even if you employ an one hundred percent efficient electrical heater, the quantity of fuel needed to make the level of heat required, is more than if the fuel was burned in a furnace or boiler at the building being heated. The quantity of electrical that's lost by substation transformers and transmission lines is just about two / three 3rds of what was at first produced at the power plant.
Electrical heating can be good in a number of cases, but in numerous eventualities it's not a responsible use of our resources. Also, don't believe the claims that one electrical resistance heater is better than any other. One KW of electricity will always convert to 3415 BTU's of heat.
About the Author:
This page was written by Lawrence Influxseo. Oceanside Electrical and San Diego Electrical are completely licensed, and insured, and all of our contractors are background checked and drug-tested for your security. We can meet all your residential, commercial, or industrial electrical requirements.