Space heating

Building interiors are warmed by space heating. In settings like laboratories where air handling is challenging, space heaters are helpful. There are various ways to heat a place with electricity.

Here are a few ways to heat an area with electricity:

·         Infrared radiant heaters

Heating elements that attain a high temperature are used in electric infrared radiant heating. The element is typically housed in a glass bulb-shaped container with a reflector to divert the energy output away from the heater's body. Infrared radiation is emitted by the element and travels through air or space until it collides with an absorbing surface, when it is partially transformed into heat and partially reflected. Instead of warming the air, this heat immediately warms the people and things in the room. When unheated air is present, this type of heater is especially beneficial. They are also perfect for garages and basements that need spot heating. They are a great option for task-specific heating generally.

Due to its concentrated intensity of output and lack of overheat safety, radiant heaters work invisibly and pose the greatest risk of setting neighboring items on fire. Because they were initially used to replace open flames, these appliances are frequently referred to as electric fires in the United Kingdom.

Although there are models where the fused silica is sealed at the ends and the resistance alloy is not nichrome, the active medium of the heater shown in this section is a coil of nichrome resistance wire inside a fused silica tube that is open to the atmosphere at the ends.

·         Convection heaters

Using thermal conduction, the heating element of a convection heater warms the air in its vicinity. More cool air can flow in to replace it because hot air rises since it is buoyant and less dense than cool air. A hot air convection current is created as a result, rising from the heater and heating the area around it before cooling and repeating the process. Oil or thermal fluid may occasionally be used to fill these heaters. For heating an enclosed environment, they work well. In contrast to radiant electric heaters, they run quietly and have a smaller risk of igniting a fire if they accidentally come into touch with furniture.

·         Fan heaters

A forced convection heater, sometimes known as a fan heater, is a type of convection heater that has an electric fan to increase airflow. The fan causes them to operate with a lot of noise. If they come into contact unintentionally with furniture, they pose a moderate danger of igniting it. Their advantages include being more cost-effective for portable and small room heating systems as well as being more compact than heaters that employ natural convection.

·         Storage heating

A storage heating system benefits from power being sold at lower prices when there is less demand, like throughout the course of the night. In the UK, this is referred to as Economy 7. The storage heater keeps heat in clay bricks for later release as needed during the day. Modern storage heaters can be utilized with different tariffs. They are still compatible with economy 7 and are still usable with daytime tariffs. This is because contemporary design elements are included during manufacture. The storage heater's efficiency has increased along with new designs and the usage of a thermostat or sensor. A heater's output can be adjusted in accordance with the room's temperature using a thermostat or sensor.

Additionally, water has the ability to store heat.

·         Domestic electrical underfloor heating

Heating wires are buried in the floor of a structure with an electric underfloor heating system. A conductive heating substance conducts current that is either directly provided by the line voltage (120 or 240 volts) or at low voltage through a transformer. Direct conduction heats the flooring by the heated cables, which turn off when the temperature specified by the floor thermostat is reached. A hotter floor surface transfers heat to cooler adjacent surfaces (ceiling, walls, furniture), which absorb the heat and reflect it back to still cooler surfaces. When equilibrium is reached everywhere, the cycle of radiation, absorption, and reflection stops. It begins slowly, slows down as set point temperatures are approached. The floor is turned on and off by a room thermostat, a floor thermostat, or both. A small layer of air in contact with heated surfaces also absorbs heat during the process of radiant heating, which somewhat increases convection (air circulation). Contrary to popular assumption, individuals aren't heated by this heated circulating air or convection (convection actually cools the body), but rather by the source's direct radiation and the surrounding objects' reflection. By stopping the circulation of air, comfort is achieved at lower air temperatures. The maximum levels of comfort are achieved with radiant heating since people's own energy (around 70 Watt for an adult) must radiate out during the heating season. According to scholarly study, air temperatures may be reduced by up to 3 degrees when compared to convection heating systems. One approach is to warm the floor using tubes loaded with hot water that are constantly flowing. The fundamentals of heating are constant. Old-fashioned electric and warm water (hydronic) underfloor heating systems built into the floor structure are both slow and unable to adapt to internal demand or lifestyle demands. The most recent variation inserts specialized electric heating systems, blankets, and additional insulation immediately underneath floor décor and on top of construction floors. Floors in construction remain chilly. It can adjust in a matter of minutes to changing weather conditions as well as internal demand demands, such as lifestyle factors like being indoors or outside, at work, resting or sleeping, having more people around or cooking, etc.

·         Lighting system

The lighting system is linked with the heating and ventilation system in large office towers. In large buildings, the lighting system provides a significant portion of the yearly heating energy. Waste heat from fluorescent lights is recovered in the return air of the heating system. However, while utilizing air conditioning, this waste heat turns into a problem. By incorporating an energy-efficient lighting system that also generates an electric heat source, such costs can be avoided.

·         Heat pumps

An electrically powered compressor is used by a heat pump to run a refrigeration cycle that pulls heat energy from the air outside, the ground, or ground water, and transfers it to the area that needs to be warmed. The heat pump's evaporator part contains a liquid that boils under low pressure while absorbing heat from the ground or ambient air. The vapor is then heated by a condenser coil within the building after being compressed by a compressor. The hot working fluid condenses back into a liquid when the heat from the hot dense gas is absorbed by the air in the building (and occasionally also used for household hot water). The cycle is then completed by returning the high pressure fluid to the evaporator section, where it expands through an opening and enters the evaporator section. The cycle can be turned around in the summer to transfer heat from the conditioned area to the outside air.

In mild areas, heat pumps may draw low-grade heat from the outside air. Ground source heat pumps are more effective than air source heat pumps in regions with average winter temperatures well below freezing because they may extract leftover solar heat stored in the ground at warmer temperatures than what is available from cold air. Geothermal heat pumps can use up to 44% less energy than air source heat pumps and up to 72% less energy than electric resistance heating, according to the US EPA. When air conditioning is required, the higher initial cost of a heat pump may be justified.