Heat Transfer and Insulation – keeping a house warm
Integrated ScienceEnergyAges 13–14
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Sign in to playA house loses heat through its walls, loft, windows, floor and draughty gaps. Choose wall and loft insulation, single or double glazing and draught-proofing; set the outside temperature, heater power and thermostat. Watch the temperature–time graph over 24 hours, the heat lost through each part and the energy and cost per day. A side experiment compares copper, aluminium, steel, wood and plastic rods with wax-held pins in hot water.
Lesson: Heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation; thermal conductors and insulators; reducing energy use in the home
What it shows
Heat always flows from a warmer place to a cooler one. A heated house loses energy by conduction through walls, loft, floor and glass, by convection when warm air escapes through gaps, and by radiation, which low-E glass reflects back inside. The U-value of each part tells how many watts pass through one square metre for each degree of temperature difference, so colder days need more energy. Mineral wool, trapped air, wood and plastic are poor conductors of heat, while metals are good conductors. The model treats the house as one block at a single temperature.
How to use
Press Run and watch the red line on the graph while the thermostat switches the heater. Change Walls, Loft, Windows or Seal gaps and compare the bars and the kWh per day. Press Heater: on to switch the heater off and see how fast the house cools. Reset keeps the old run as a grey line. In Conduction rods, change Hot water temperature and compare how many pins fall.
Parameters you can change
- Show House, Conduction rods experiment
- Walls Brick, no insulation, Mineral wool layer
- Loft No insulation, 27 cm of insulation
- Windows Single glazing, Double glazing, Double glazing with low-E coating
- Seal gaps (draught-proofing)
- Outside temperature -10–20 °C
- Heater power 0–15 kW
- Thermostat setting 16–24 °C
- Electricity price 0.05–0.5 $/kWh
- Hot water temperature (rods experiment) 60–100 °C
Questions to explore
- Which part of the uninsulated house loses the most heat, and why?
- Why does double glazing keep a room warmer than single glazing?
- Why are pan handles usually made of wood or plastic rather than metal?
