Why is a Heater Not 100 Percent Efficient? (Answered)

When looking for a heater to warm your home, the AFUE rating should be of top importance. This metric will tell you how much energy the device uses and converts into heat joules per hour; though this metric should play an essential part of selecting a system.

People often refer to heaters that aren’t 100% efficient as using some energy for purposes other than producing heat, as evidenced by computers, televisions and refrigerators using energy that will later be transformed into heat very quickly. Electric resistance heaters too use electricity inefficiently since they convert electricity directly to heat without disseminating that warmth to where it’s needed – though their efficiency at doing this remains unchanged compared with its effectiveness at providing heat wherever needed.

Contrarily, an 80% efficient natural gas furnace may actually be less effective at heating your home than a simple 1,500-watt electric space heater due to inefficiencies at combustion point – not all the atoms in fuel must be burned off in order to produce heat, and some of that energy may be wasted by producing waste products and producing waste products themselves. Furthermore, furnaces must deal with losses through ductwork and boiler pipes which leads to an AFUE rating lower than advertised.

One common misperception about electric heaters is that they aren’t 100% efficient because they don’t burn fossil fuel at the power plant, yet this ignores that fossil fuel plants only generate power at 35% efficiency at their source of generation, with additional transmission losses adding 2-6% overall efficiency loss at each station.

On the other hand, an electric heater powered by renewable solar or wind energy can achieve up to 100% efficiency. Electric heaters don’t burn any fuel to generate heat and don’t lose heat through ducts or pipework – making them one of the more eco-friendly choices for both homes and commercial spaces. To learn more about its benefits contact Howard Air’s experts – they have over four decades of experience and can assist in selecting an option tailored specifically to meet your needs – call today and make an appointment.