Heat and Heating
Maintaining Constant Temperature
The purpose of a heating system is to maintain a constant temperature. To do this, all heating systems—whether it is for heating a small room or a domed stadium—must compensate for heat losses with heat gains. Even though the human body continually loses heat through conduction with the surrounding air and evaporation of water from the surface of the skin, the temperature of the human body is remarkably constant. For every joule of heat flowing from the body, there is one joule produced by mechanisms that convert energy from food. If heat loss quickens (e.g., while one is swimming), the heat regulators in the body convert more energy from food to compensate.
It is the same with a room in a building. Heat is lost through many tiny openings to the outside and through conduction through walls and windows. A heating system makes up this loss keeping the temperature constant. The greater the temperature difference between the inside and outside of a building, the greater is the heat loss. This is why the heating system must provide more heat when you want to maintain a higher temperature as well as when the outside temperature is extremely cold.
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