Definition
Basic
In physics, heat is energy transferred from one place in a body or to another place, or beyond the boundary of one system to another one due to thermal contact even when the systems are at different temperatures. It is also often described as the process of transfer of energy between physical entities. In this description, it is an energy transfer to the body in any other way than due to work performed on the body.
Commodification
Heating systems consist of an energy source, a method of converting that energy to heat, and a transport system to convey the energy and heat to the point of use. Most heating systems include some manual or automatic method of controlling the heat output and delivery.
There are many sources of energy for use in heating. The earliest source, and still most common in developing countries, comprises wood and wood products. Solar use for heating and electrical generation has become widespread, although economics discourages more general use. The generation of electrical energy requires the use of fossil fuels, water power or geothermal energy. Fossil fuels are used directly in furnaces and boilers.
Heating
Origin
From the beginning of time, humans have tried different methods for heating their homes. Even the cavemen used fire to cook and warm themselves up. There is evidence that a centrally piped system was around to heat homes for the Roman Empire. In earlier days, the earth’s forests were thick with an abundance of firewood. Timber was a readily available heating source and was used to stoke fireplaces and stoves in dwellings around the world. Moreover, steam was used to warm up houses in Sweden as early as the 1700’s.
Money Involved
Revenue
In 2007, the total world heating market was valued at US$ 31.1 billion with many European heating markets in decline. In Germany and Italy, the boiler market shrunk dramatically. Germany suffered a decline of 37% in the domestic boiler market, with floor standing type experiencing the largest decrease.
This is mainly because consumers were uncertain about which technologies to choose and are holding back expenditure on heating products. Also, in recent years conventional heating markets have experienced increasing competition from the rise of renewable technologies, especially heat pumps.
Use
Basic
Finding the right heating source for your home involves many factors. Safety, efficiency and costs are the three main factors that an individual will look at when choosing the one that best suits his needs. Every heating source has pros and cons that must be analyzed when deciding which will be best.
Natural Gas
Natural gas has been known in the past as an economical heating source. In more recent years, however, natural gas has become more expensive. It is clean enough to use with condensing gas technology, and is available anywhere in the United States. But it does require a special fixed delivery system in order to produce heat, and this will require that you go through an energy company to obtain service.
Electricity
Although not an actual heat source but an energy delivery system, electricity is a clean, safe and affordable way to provide heat. It can be made from nuclear energy or fossil fuels. Electrical heating systems have low installation and maintenance costs.
Solar Energy
Solar energy is an efficient and more affordable method of heating a home. It is also the "green" option because it helps the environment. Contact a solar heating service to have solar panels installed on the roof of your home. There is more architectural flexibility now than in previous years for solar paneling.
Wood Heaters
Wood is a renewable heat source that is available just about everywhere. It offers constant heat and is affordable. However, using a wood heater as the main heating source may increase insurance rates for homeowners, since wood is thought to be the cause of a large number of house fires each year.
Challenges
Supply
Current trends in energy supply and use are unsustainable – economically, environmentally and socially. Without decisive action, global energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will more than double by 2050 and increased oil demand will heighten concerns over the security of supplies. In the building sector, the global number of households will grow by 67% and the floor area of service sector (commercial and institutional) buildings by almost 195%.
Possibilities
Clean Energy
We can and must change our current energy and climate path; energy-efficient and low/zero-carbon energy technologies for heating and cooling in buildings will play a crucial role in the energy revolution needed to make this change happen.
To effectively reduce GHG emissions, numerous items will require widespread deployment: energy efficiency, many types of renewable energy, carbon capture and storage (CCS), nuclear power and new transport technologies. Every major country and sector of the economy must be involved and action needs to be taken now to ensure that today’s investment decisions do not burden us with sub-optimal technologies in the long-term.
Low Cost
Any household spending more than 10% of its income on heating is considered to be in fuel poverty. As of December 2009, there are an estimated 6 million such households only in UK. Renewable heat could help to alleviate fuel poverty in some cases, for example when replacing expensive electric heating in houses situated off the gas grid.
A Renewable Heat Incentive has been proposed which will make renewable heating more cost competitive with fossil-fuel alternatives. Renewable heating technologies have high up-front costs and long payback periods. Innovative financing methods are therefore required to support take up.
Key Countries
Commercial Leaders
Germany is the leader in the European commercial boiler market, closely followed by the UK. The preferred boiler output in the Americas region is of the 100-300kW, whilst on a global scale the 50-100kW range is the favored option.
China dominates the global radiator market with over 23.6million sales in 2008. Tunisia is one of the smaller markets in the global radiator market; nevertheless it recorded an average growth of twelve per cent bringing the overall market close to 98,000 units.
In 2008, the Chinese underfloor heating market more than doubled in volume from 2007, making it the market leader. The rapid growth of the underfloor heating market was spurred by the booming building construction in China and the increase of people's awareness of floor heating.
The global water heating market experienced a small growth in 2008. Electric storage water heaters accounted for 38% of the market, with glass lined steel being the most popular option. The Americas region dominates the electric instantaneous water heater market with 81.4% of the total market share by volume.
Prospects
Outlook
Renewable energy is replenished by the Sun or the Earth at least as fast as it is consumed. Renewable heat is defined in the Energy Act 2008 as heat generated from a range of renewable fuels and low carbon technologies, discussed in more detail below. The UK has adopted an EU target to supply 15% of energy (heat, electricity and transport) from renewables by 2020. To achieve this target, government scenarios suggest that the UK could generate 12% of its heat from renewables.
This will require unprecedented growth (sustained at up to 90% per year) in markets for renewable heating technologies. However, in the majority of cases, renewable heating is currently more expensive than fossil-fuel heating alternatives.
Sustainability
Overall
The Heating field is by nature closely linked to the Profit, People, Planet with the traits and focus of renewable energy in general.
Global Compact
At the current time, most of the international business corporations in the field of heating such as Bosch, Siemens, Honeywool, Viessmann, Danfoss etc. are represented in Global Compact.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Almost all of biggest companies have specific CSR policies that are clearly visible when using their websites.
Bottom of the Pyramid
After extensive research, no large-scale Bottom of the Pyramid initiatives involving wind companies have been found.
Miscellaneous
Solar Heating
Over 70% of the average household’s energy use goes into space and water heating, so a source of free hot water to use instead of commercial energy can make a dramatic financial saving.
Solar Water Heating is the renewable technology of choice for most UK households as it offers a quicker payback (7-15 years for an average household) than Photovoltaics (20-30 years) and the advantage that there is already an established network of installers. More immediate financial impact on your energy budget can be achieved through energy saving measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation that typically pay for themselves in 1- 3 years.
Ground and Air Source Heating
A few meters down the earth remains at a constant temperature about 10 – 15 degrees in the UK. We can make use of this fact to transfer this latent heat to your home using a ground source heat pump. Heat pumps draw heat from the ground via a ground collector (slinky) or a ground probe (bore hole).
Heat pumps work in much the same way as a fridge but in reverse. In a fridge the heat is transported from inside to outside, while a heat pump takes heat stored below the underground frost line and transports it via the heating system to the house interior. Some systems are designed to work in reverse as well, cooling the interior in hot weather.
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