Space heating is the heating of a space, usually enclosed, such as a house or room. A space heater keeps the air and surroundings at a comfortable temperature for people or animals. HVAC (pronounced either H-V-A-C or, occasionally, H-VAK) is an initialism/acronym that stands for heating, ventilating and air-conditioning. This is sometimes referred to as climate control. ...

Types of space heating

While central furnaces that heat buildings and houses heat space, the term space heater is often used to refer to relatively small heaters, especially those that are portable or wall-mounted. These space heaters may use natural gas or propane, but they are most commonly electric. Electric heaters are safer because there is no danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. They are also cheaper to buy. However, they are far more expensive to operate. Space heating does not include water heating, unless it is used for hydronic heating. A furnace is a device for heating air or any other fluid. ... Many stoves use natural gas. ... Propane is a three-carbon alkane, normally a gas, but compressible to a liquid with inexpensive containers. ... An electric heater is an electrical appliance that converts electrical energy into heat. ... Carbon monoxide toxicity is due to two main mechanisms: CO binds to hemoglobin and decreases the oxygen content of blood; this results in acute tissue hypoxic injury CO binds to mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase and impairs oxidative phosphorylation and causes cell damage Carbon monoxide (CO) binds very strongly to the iron... A trio of propane water heaters. ... Name for heating and cooling systems using water as the circulated heat exchange medium. ...

Efficiency

In most areas, fossil fuels are burned to create heat, which is used to boil water and create steam to turn a turbine that turns a generator that produces electricity. The efficiency for the process ranges from about 20 to 60%. Another 5 to 15% is lost in transmission, depending how far the power plant is from the user. Gas heaters on the other hand, use the heat from combustion to directly heat the space, which is much more efficient. Coal rail cars in Ashtabula, Ohio Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from the remains of dead plants and animals. ... WWII era steam turbine used for ship propulsion. ... Electrical generator Generator (Mathematics) ... Transmission lines in Lund, Sweden Transmission towers and lines in Coquitlam, British Columbia. ... Oil power plant in Iraq A power station or power plant is a facility for the generation of electric power. ... A gas heater is a device used to heat a room by burning gas. ...