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A temperature problem
Touch a piece of metal and a piece of wood at the same
temperature. Which material feels warmer and why?

The metal feels cold and the wood feels warm.

Metal is a good conductor and conducts the heat away
from your hands, so it feels cold.
Wood is not a good conductor and does not conduct the
heat away from your hands as well as the metal, so the
wood feels warmer than the metal.

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What are thermal insulators?
Some materials are very poor
conductors of heat. These are
called thermal insulators.
Examples of materials that are
insulators include plastics,
wood, ceramics and air.
Air becomes a very effective
insulator when it is trapped
and stopped from moving.
This is how your clothes keep you warm – air is trapped
between the fibres and so acts as an insulator.
Other insulating materials, including polystyrene and loft
insulation, use trapped air because it is so effective.

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Charlie the Chef and his frozen chicken!
Charlie forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer last night!
Will his plan to defrost the chicken in time for lunch work?

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How does a vacuum flask work?
How is a vacuum flask able to keep hot drinks hot
and cold drinks cold?
2. The plastic (or cork) lid is an
insulator and the screw top
prevents convection currents
escaping from the flask.
1. There is a vacuum between
two layers of glass or steel,
which prevents heat leaving
or entering by conduction.
3. The walls have silvery surfaces,
which prevent heat leaving or
entering by radiation.`

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Heat loss from houses
A thermogram shows the distribution of heat over the surface
of a house. It highlights where heat is being lost.
The white, yellow and
red areas are the
warmest, so these are
the worst insulated
parts of the house.
The blue and green areas
are the coolest, so these
are the best insulated
parts of the house.
A poorly insulated house loses more energy and so costs
more to heat. It also means that more pollution, particularly
carbon dioxide, is created in order to heat the house.
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Heat loss from houses
Where is the most heat lost from a poorly insulated house?
roof 20%

windows 12%

walls 36%
doors 4%

floor 28%
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How can heat loss be reduced?
Various types of insulation can prevent the loss of heat
energy from a house.
Use the following slides to complete this table showing how
different types of insulation can prevent loss of heat energy
from a house.
Type of Type of heat How insulation
insulation transfer stopped stops heat transfer

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Can heat loss through windows be reduced?

A lot of heat energy can be lost through windows.

Double glazing adds an insulating
extra pane of glass. The layer
air trapped between the of air
two panes acts as an
insulator and reduces
heat loss by conduction.
The insulating effect of side-view
the gap can be improved
of double
glazing
by removing the air and
creating a vacuum.
The problems with double glazing are that it can be
expensive and that it is difficult to break in emergencies
without a special hammer.
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How can heat loss through walls be reduced?

Most outside walls have an

empty space between the
two layers of bricks called convection
a cavity. currents
in the
The air trapped in the cavity
cavity
acts as an insulator and
reduces any heat loss due
to conduction through the
bricks.
Heat loss can also occur due foam
to convection within the insulation
cavity. Plastic foam insulation prevents
convection
can be pumped into the
currents
cavity to prevent this.

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How can heat loss through a roof be reduced?

The air warmed by radiators (and heat

other heaters) is carried around a loss
house by convection currents.
The house becomes heated but,
if there is no roof insulation, the
warm air continues to rise.
The heat eventually escapes
through the roof and is lost due to loft insulation
conduction through the roof tiles.
Loft insulation contains trapped air
and so forms an insulating layer
between the loft and the rest of the
house. This helps to reduce heat
loss through the roof.

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How can heat loss from radiators be reduced?

A radiator produces infrared radiation.

Some of this heat energy is absorbed by the wall that the
radiator is attached to, and so the wall heats up.
This can be a real problem on outside walls, where the heat
energy absorbed by the wall can escape from the house.
Heat loss from a radiator can be
reduced by placing shiny foil
between the wall and the radiator.
The foil prevents heat radiation
from reaching the wall by
reflecting it back into the room.
This method of insulation is very
cheap to install.

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How can heat loss through doors be reduced?

A draught is the movement of air due to a convection current.

A lot of heat energy can be lost
from a house due to draughts
escaping through gaps under
doors and around windows.
This is one of the easiest
types of heat loss to prevent.
Draught excluders are hairy or
spongy strips that can be used
to close the gaps around doors
and windows.
They prevent draughts escaping
and so reduce heat loss.
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How can curtains reduce heat loss?
A draught is the movement of air due to a convection current.
Warm air rises and is carried up
towards the windows in a house
by convection currents.
This heat energy can
escape through gaps around
windows that are uncovered.
Fitting curtains and closing them
can prevent draughts leaving a
house and so reduce heat loss.
In addition, curtains are opaque
and so radiated heat does not
pass through them.

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How does insulation affect heat loss?

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Insulation and heat loss – true or false?

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How does double glazing work?
How does double glazing keep a house warmer?
Double glazing keeps a
house warmer because
ir
there is a layer of a__
between the panes of glass.

Air is a poor c________,

onductor
so it acts as an i_______.
nsulator

The trapped air r_______

educes
heat loss by c_________
onduction
from a house.
side-view
of double
glazing
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Insulation and heat transfer

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What is payback time?
Payback time is the time it takes for the cost of installing
insulation to be equalled by the savings made from reduced
energy costs.

cost of insulation
payback time (in years) =
saving each year

Example:
Adding silver reflectors behind radiators costs £25 and
saves £50 per year.

payback time = 25
50
= 0.5 years (6 months)

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Calculating payback time
What is the payback time for these types of insulation?
How heat Cost of heat Cost of Payback
escapes escaping insulation time
per year

roof £80 £240 3 years

windows £40 £3,200 80 years

draughts £50 £50 1 year

walls £100 £500 5 years

Why is double glazing popular if the payback time is so long?

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Which insulation is most cost-effective?
Cost-effectiveness is a comparison of the annual savings in
reduced energy bills and the cost of insulation.

saving each year

Cost-effectiveness =
cost of insulation

Example 1: Example 2:
Adding silver reflectors behind Adding draught excluders
radiators costs £25 and saves costs £50 and saves £50 per
£50 per year. year.
Cost-effectiveness = 50/25 Cost-effectiveness = 50/50
=2 =1
So, the reflectors are more cost-effective than the draught
excluders.

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Calculating cost-effectiveness

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 Glossary (1/2)
 cavity wall – A wall made up of two layers of bricks with an
air gap between them, which reduces heat lost by conduction.
 cavity wall insulation – Plastic foam insulation that is
pumped into the gap in a cavity wall to prevent heat lost due
to convection in the cavity.
 cost-effectiveness – A comparison of the annual savings
in reduced energy bills and the cost of insulation.
 double glazing – Two panes of glass with an air gap
between them, which reduces heat lost by conduction. The
air can be sucked out of the gap to create a vacuum.
 draught excluder – A hairy or spongy strip that
prevents draughts escaping through the gaps around doors
and windows, and so reduces heat loss.

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 Glossary (2/2)
 loft insulation – A material which contains trapped air
and helps to reduce heat lost through the roof of a house.
 insulator – A material that is a very poor conductor of heat
and so can be used to reduce heat loss.
 payback time – The time it takes for the cost of insulation
to be equalled by the savings from reduced energy bills.
 vacuum flask – A vacuum flask is a bottle with double
walls separated by a vacuum. It reduces heat transfer and
so keeps warm drinks warm and cold drinks cold.

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Anagrams

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Multiple-choice quiz

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