Heat Distribution

Heat distribution in room heating with the aid of furnace is normally followed in cold country homes. The furnace dissipates the heat into the living room of residential building through a centrally installed distribution system. If the furnace is used to heat water and converts it into steam then this is termed as steam boiler.

But hot air circulation is the normal practice to heat rooms because the cumbersome process of handling steam will be difficult inside the living place. Handling through pipes may call for several additional components to handle the condensate, to maintain the pressure and temperature and periodic maintenance. In air circulations, these controls are minimal and the maintenance is not that complicated.

Advantage of using a steam boiler to heat living space through duct, then this fluid can also be used as hot water to take bath or to be used in dish washing machine. However, this becomes a disadvantage when the boiler breaks down by depriving of all these requirements, unless there is a standby arrangement. Moreover, only dry steam is capable of imparting heat to the transfer medium, for which the dryness fraction of steam should be maintained. Air vents, steam traps, steam dryers, pressure-regulating valves are some of the most important components that should be added to the steam line, to get maximum efficiency.

The furnace circulates warm air through ducting and sucks in cold air through inlet ducting to be heated in the furnace and re-circulated. Because of the cumbersome ducting arrangements, this is often called as octopus furnace.

In modern furnaces supplying warm air, a fan is used to circulate air to the living rooms, drawing the cold air back to the furnace for reheating. In this type of forced air heating, the fan itself overcomes the resistance of the duct-work in the heating system. Cool air is passed through the heat exchanger of the furnace by a blower and then to the buildings. The advantage claimed is that this facilitates the installation of air conditioning by the addition of cooling coils at the exhaust of the furnace.

The duct-work may be of sheet metal or plastics. Insulation may be necessary when exposed in unintended areas. In sending through the ducts, air leakage may cause waste of energy. Conditioned air may be lost in warm seasons when the duct passes through exposed areas. If these losses are taken care by proper insulation and un-insulated ducts through vantage areas, then this may be ideal, as this is easy to install.

The insulation material and the insulation work also should be taken care. Asbestos is one of the best insulation materials available. The transmission pipes should be coated with corrosion resistant paint. The it should be protected with asbestos ropes or fiberglass mats. Again this should be metal clad, usually aluminum, to protect the insulation material from contamination of water, which will render the insulator a conductor.

When these precautions are taken care of, the furnace will work efficiently to deliver the heat requirement that is needed by the target area.