AD 12500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 31: Pyrography, Radiant Energy, Electric Heating

• School: Purdue University
• Department: Art & Design
• Course: AD 12500
• Professor: barbyoung

Document Summary

Buildings can utilize a number of different primary energy sources to control their thermal microclimates. Some of these sources, such as wood (in a fireplace), can be used directly to heat an interior; others, such as oil, must first be refined and then burned in a furnace for radiant energy. Currently there is also an interest in using more renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, and wood, as opposed to nonrenewable ones, such as oil and coal, which have fixed and limited reserves: fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are those natural resources, such as coal, oil, and gas reserves, that lie beneath the earth"s surface. These are extracted directly and burned (coal), refined (heating oil and gas), or used indirectly (burned in large generating plants) to produce electricity: wood. Today, wood is often a secondary heat source in airtight stoves or fireplaces.