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How Does Heater Work? - Etshera Housewares

How Does Heater Work?

Heaters are a great benefit to human society. Not only do they produce warmth indoors during the winter, but a space heater can afford better control over the amount of heat you experience in one room rather than an entire building. The question is, how do heaters work?

Heaters are used to heat independent areas no matter what temperature it is outdoors. The variety of heaters include infrared heaters, baseboard heaters, central heating, and space heaters. These utilize either gas or electricity to generate heat. Out of the many options, the most useful and efficient heater is the Blaux Heatcore Mini Heater.

If you’re hoping to gain a greater understanding of how heaters work, look no further than this article, which will cover how a heater works in rooms and apartments, how a heater warms the air and gives off heat, and which space heater is the best for all of the above!

Blaux Heatcore mini heater

How Does a Heater Work in a Room?

Some heaters, like the central heating system, work by heating up an entire building. Sometimes this isn’t needed: maybe one person in the household gets chills easily, while another finds themselves overheated more often. In this case, it’s a great idea to understand how heating one room at a time can be possible. Heaters that heat just one room include the following:

  1. Space or Ceramic Heaters
  2. Baseboard Heating Systems

Let’s examine these heater models to see how they work in a room!

Blaux Heatcore mini heater

1. Space or Ceramic Heaters

The space heater is a portable heater. A portable heater is useful because, as the name suggests, it can be removed from one area and taken to another easily. This way, if you’re chilly in the living room while you read, then decide to head to the comfort of your own bedroom for peace and quiet, your portable heater can come with you.

Common space heaters and ceramic heaters are very similar. Both are often classified as portable heaters, just like both are technically space heaters because they work to heat one specific room or area at a time.

However, a space heater does have one significant difference to a ceramic heater. While a space heater typically distributes heat to a room from a metal coil, a ceramic heater, like the Blaux Heatcore Mini Heater distributes heat from a series of ceramic plates.

Blaux Heatcore mini heater

2. Baseboard Heating Systems

A baseboard heating system is typically electrical. It is installed, usually beneath the windows of a room, near the floor of any given room. As cold air from the windows enter the vents of a baseboard heater, it is warmed up by electrical fins.

The fan systems in most baseboard heaters then redistribute the air, now heated, into a room. They are popular thanks to their low volume of noise while they do their work, and they are easy to install. However, unlike the space heaters or ceramic heaters, including the Blaux Heatcore Mini Heater, a baseboard heater is not capable of moving easily like a portable heater.

These are the best alternative to central heating, which warms an entire building, but doesn’t offer as much control over individual rooms.

How Does a Heater Warm the Air?

There are many different types of heaters, all of which work to heat up the air around them in an effort to make their owners more comfortable.

Another common aspect of the way a heater warms up the air is through the use of electric heating parts inside of the heater. No matter what type of heater you are using, it will have one of the following components:

  1. A Heat Source
  2. The Heat Distribution System
  3. The Control System

Let’s take a look at what each of these components actually do so that you can be sure of the answer to the question: how does a heater work in a room?

1. A Heat Source

A heat source is the part inside of your heater that is generating the heat energy. The most typical heat sources found in any given heater are a furnace, a boiler, or a heat pump. Even in the case of water, a heat source provides the energy that raises the temperature of the molecules around it.

  • A furnace – A furnace uses natural gas or propane, which is lit on fire by an ignition process in the furnace’s burner. These flames usually heat up a piece of metal, and that piece of metal is what comes into contact with whatever the furnace is trying to heat up: usually water or air.
  • A boiler – A boiler also utilizes gas or propane to create heat. When a boiler is in use, a valve will open up and allow gas to enter something called a combustion chamber. The combustion chamber is a safe place for the fuel to explode inside the boiler. This explosion works as the heat source.
  • A heat pump – A heat pump is a heat source which is generated by the energy of air blowing over a coil. The coil within the heat pump is designed to absorb heat and transfer it into a liquid called refrigerant, which winds up being transferred to heat either water or air.

Heat sources generate the actual heat energy, leaving the heat distribution system to do the rest.

2. The Heat Distribution System

Once the heat source in any given heater has generated enough energy to create heat, it is up to the heat distribution system to move that heat through the home or water. Here are two examples of prime heat distribution systems:

  • Forced air – This is any type of heat distribution system with an air duct or vent, and usually belongs with a furnace or heat pump. Typically, a fan will spin, directing air through a series of ventilation channels which lead to the air or water nearby and heats it up.
  • Radiators – Radiators are a type of heat distribution that uses radiator panels. Radiator panels are typically made of metal and provide a flat surface which spreads the heat from the heat source evenly in radiation. Boilers make use of radiators.
  • Once heat has been created and is ready to be distributed, it is up to the heater’s control system to determine when and where that heat is used!

3. The Control System

A control system refers to how the amount of heat to be distributed is determined. Usually, this is in the form of a thermostat. For some heaters, it is possible to adjust how much heat is distributed.

The most convenient kind of control systems, like the one in the Blast Heatcore Mini Heater, simply automatically reach a comfortable temperature relative to the heater’s size and distribution capabilities, without the user needing to worry about adjusting the thermostat.

Blaux Heatcore mini heater

How Does a Heater Give off Heat?

A heater gives off heat by first generating heat energy inside itself, then distributing that energy. Some space heaters do this through the use of a fan or radiators, while central heating systems typically distribute using a network of ducts or pipes.

Electric Heaters

Many heaters, like the Blaux Heatcore Mini, are electrical and generate heat through the use of electrical wattage. Electrical heaters are great because they often come with a safety sensor.

A safety sensor is a mechanism that allows the electrical heater to sense when it has been tipped over and is no longer safe. A tipped-over heater can drive heat right into the flammable surfaces of a table, carpet fibers, or wood paneling, starting a fire if it is not stopped.

Though the term “electric heater” may raise concerns about energy costs, it is important to note that not all heaters eat up energy! For example the Blaux Heatcore Mini puts out 1200 Watts of heat. In doing so, it costs less than fifteen cents to run while providing plenty of heat.

This makes the Blaux Heatcore Mini one of the leading names when it comes to choosing an energy efficient space heater.

Blaux Heatcore mini heater

How Do Heaters Work in Apartments?

There are a few ways heaters work in apartment buildings and their subsequent individual apartments! Here are the two main ways an apartment may be heated in its building:

  1. Central Heating
  2. Perimeter Heating Systems
  3. Direct Heating

Let’s take a more detailed look at these two categories of heating within an apartment, and determine which is the best in terms of the tenant’s control.

1. Central Heating

Central heating systems deliver heat to many individual apartment suites at one time. A central heating system distributes warm air from one originating location, and it does so most often through ductwork beneath the floors.One central type of heating is a furnace. They heat up a metal component and then force air through this hot metal so that it, in turn, is warm by the time it travels through ductwork to the building’s rooms.

Another central heating favorite in apartments is a boiler. A boiler distributes heat by boiling hot water, then pumping that water through a series of pipes which delivers it to the individual room’s radiators. From there, the tenant can turn on their radiator to control how much heat is in their apartment.

The problem with central heating is that it is a very general application of heat. This means that those living in the apartment don’t have much control over where the heat is coming from in their apartment.

For example, if you live in an apartment that uses a room-facing radiator, and the radiator is in your living room, it is likely that your living room will stay toasty…but your bedroom may not be as comfortable.

Traditional Boiler

Picture of Peter Herrmann in Unsplash

2. Perimeter Heating Systems

Perimeter heating systems are slightly different from central heating simply because, although they also heat up from one origin point and travel through ducts, these ducts are installed along the walls instead of beneath the floors.

One type of perimeter heating system found in apartments is trench heating. Trench heating suck in air through a grille, warm it up, and then churn it back into the room. Trench heating is the centralized version of an energy efficient heater.

Another option in perimeter heating systems is a pedestal heater. A pedestal heater is not considered a portable heater, usually stationed above floor level near an apartment wall. It is popular for circulating heat electrically from top to bottom in any given room.

The pedestal heater is a ceramic heater, much like the BlauxHeatcore Mini, and therefore warms air by moving it through a series of hot ceramic fins.

Pedestal heater

Picture of 🤘Nick Samoylov in Unsplash

3. Direct Heating

Direct heating is a term used to refer to more direct sources of heat in an apartment building. This is usually necessary when there is no ductwork in the building. However, one of the best things about direct heating sources when central heating is already present is the amount of control it gives to a tenant who might be finding themselves chilly often.

One direct heating source used in an apartment building is a gas-fired space heater. These come in many configurations, but are not often considered an easily-portable heater.

Also, the gas-fired aspect of this heater’s heat source can pose a danger of starting fires and must be watched carefully.

Another, more beneficial direct heater is an electric space heater. An electric space heater, like the energy efficient heater, the Blaux Heatcore Mini, is safer than it’s gas-fired alternative. In addition, electric space heaters are often smaller and function as a portable heater.

Blaux heatcore mini heater

Conclusion

In conclusion, heaters are beneficial because they can warm the air not only in an entire building or an apartment, but, in the case of the space heater or ceramic heater, in one space at a time.

Heaters work using a variety of models, all of which include a heating source, a distribution system, and a control system like a thermometer.

When looking for a device that is easily moveable, fast-acting, and altogether an energy efficient heater, the Blaux Heatcore Mini Heater sold by Etshera is a great option.

Blaux heatcore mini heater

Click here to get your Blaux Heatcore mini heater!

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