It is a trick question for thermal nerds like myself.
Speaking of thermal nerds, explain the tea candle/flower pot heaters. I understand the pots heating up quite a bit due to the clay's insulating quality. But the candles can't generate more heat under the pots. The energy still "dissipates" as heat moves from a warmer body (air molecule in the room) to a cooler body (other molecules). Seems that all the pots do is temporarily slow the transfer of energy to the air until the outer pot begins to heat above the room's temperature. Whether burning in the open, or under the pots, the candles generate the same calories per unit time.
"We have to find someone who can not only fly this plane, but who didn't have fish for dinner."
Crooow:This music would work better with women in bikinis shaking all over the place. I guess that's true of any music really.
Speaking of thermal nerds, explain the tea candle/flower pot heaters. I understand the pots heating up quite a bit due to the clay's insulating quality. But the candles can't generate more heat under the pots. The energy still "dissipates" as heat moves from a warmer body (air molecule in the room) to a cooler body (other molecules). Seems that all the pots do is temporarily slow the transfer of energy to the air until the outer pot begins to heat above the room's temperature. Whether burning in the open, or under the pots, the candles generate the same calories per unit time.
Huh. I had never heard of this until seeing you post then had to Google what the heck you were talking about. That is kind of cool. The video I saw had some dude using this on carpet. I sure as hell wouldn't do that but then again what do I know.
So on to the thermal aspects of it. Yes, you are right, the amount of heat the candles can put out is the same with or without the pot. What is happening here is that you have reduced the volume of air the candles are heating. By trapping the air in the pots instead of letting it freely circulate through the room you are heating that small volume of air to a higher temperature. You are then using that air to heat the pot which then radiates to whole room....kind of like a wood burning stove would do. The total energy produced in the entire volume of the room is still the same.
Nope. I don't believe I have any Canuckistan blood in me.
I know this because it is my job. For all the work we do everything is in degrees C. Celsius makes so much sense. We mostly use bastardized units for all our analysis though. All our lengths are in inches', we use C not F and Watts not BTUs.
Replies
Crooow:This music would work better with women in bikinis shaking all over the place. I guess that's true of any music really.
It is a trick question for thermal nerds like myself.
Speaking of thermal nerds, explain the tea candle/flower pot heaters. I understand the pots heating up quite a bit due to the clay's insulating quality. But the candles can't generate more heat under the pots. The energy still "dissipates" as heat moves from a warmer body (air molecule in the room) to a cooler body (other molecules). Seems that all the pots do is temporarily slow the transfer of energy to the air until the outer pot begins to heat above the room's temperature. Whether burning in the open, or under the pots, the candles generate the same calories per unit time.
Crooow:This music would work better with women in bikinis shaking all over the place. I guess that's true of any music really.
Huh. I had never heard of this until seeing you post then had to Google what the heck you were talking about. That is kind of cool. The video I saw had some dude using this on carpet. I sure as hell wouldn't do that but then again what do I know.
So on to the thermal aspects of it. Yes, you are right, the amount of heat the candles can put out is the same with or without the pot. What is happening here is that you have reduced the volume of air the candles are heating. By trapping the air in the pots instead of letting it freely circulate through the room you are heating that small volume of air to a higher temperature. You are then using that air to heat the pot which then radiates to whole room....kind of like a wood burning stove would do. The total energy produced in the entire volume of the room is still the same.
Mike
Nope. I don't believe I have any Canuckistan blood in me.
I know this because it is my job. For all the work we do everything is in degrees C. Celsius makes so much sense. We mostly use bastardized units for all our analysis though. All our lengths are in inches', we use C not F and Watts not BTUs.