EGEE 102
Energy Conservation for Environmental Protection

Review and Extra Resources

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Review Sheet Lesson 7 – Home Heating Basics

  • Residential Heat Loss
    • Home heating is the single highest energy expense for a household.
    • Mechanisms of heat loss. You should be able to identify the mechanisms given some examples.
      • Conduction
      • Convection
      • Radiation
    • Heating Degree Days. Definition and Calculation of HDD
      • Seasonal heating degree day. Calculation of Seasonal HDDs
    • Heat loss
      • Hourly heating loss
        • From temperature difference
      • Annual or Seasonal heating loss
        • From HDD
  • Insulation and Home heating fuels
    • R-Value
    • Types of Insulation
    • Composite R-value calculation (Make sure if the component R-value is given for the whole thickness or per inch.)
    • Calculation of wall heat loss
    • Fuel Choices for home heating
      • Heating value of fuels
    • Heating Efficiency
      • AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency)
    • Energy Cost
      • Annual heating
    • Payback Period
      • Make sure you use the correct units for each quantity used in the formula.

Test Yourself!

The questions below are your chance to test and practice your understanding of the content covered in this lesson. In other words, you should be able to answer the following questions if you know the material that was just covered! If you have problems with any of the items, feel free to post your question on the unit message board so your classmates, and/or your instructor, can help you out!

  1. Compare and contrast the three conventional heating methods (forced air duct, Hydronic floor, and baseboard heating systems).
  2. Describe any five methods (total) to reduce home heating/cooling costs, and explain how each step reduces the energy consumption.
  3. Explain the operation principle of a ground source heat pump. Explain the difference between an open-loop and a closed-loop GHP.
  4. What is the difference between active and passive heating systems?
  5. With a neat sketch, describe how an active solar heating system works.
  6. Describe any three passive heating methods.
  7. Explain how a geothermal heat pump works and why it is so efficient.
  8. Explain clearly how an air-to-air heat pump works. List the main components used in the heat pump.

Extra Resources

For more information on topics discussed in Lesson 7, see these selected references:

  1. ACEEE Heating
  2. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
  3. Elements of an energy efficient house, Factsheet,DOE/GO-102-1070 PS-207 July 2000, pp 1-8.
  4. Insulation, Fact sheet, US Department of Energy DOE/CE-0180, 2008.
  5. Fiber Glass Loose Fill Insulation
  6. Q&A About Home Insulation
  7. EERE on insulation