War on coal

I'm pretty sure a baked potato in foil is the best heat storage device. Only thing at dinner that's still hot whenever I decide to eat it.

Just fill your bed with some and sleep all night at the North Pole (or wherever you live)

Quote: rxwine

I'm pretty sure a baked potato in foil is the best heat storage device. )

Stones are best. They would get a big stone
super hot in the fireplace and put it
in a metal device and put it under the
bed covers. It gave off heat for hours.
They used them in carriages in winter
also.

Latent Heat Capacity is a useful thing, right?

I believe molten salt is a great heat reservoir... certainly some plans for solar energy use molten salt, which then avoids the power going out when the sun goes down.

Quote: TheCesspit

Latent Heat Capacity is a useful thing, right?

Certainly it's useful.

But you can't be delusional and think it is saving you money because it is still keeping you warm even after the power has turned off. It takes a lot of power to warm up the heat sink.

But there is a lot psychology about feeling warm. Heated floors are great because if your feet feels warm, you are less likely to feel uncomfortable with a colder air temperature. So you may expend less total energy. But that is just basic biology, because the body warms the core first when it is cold. So if your external heat source is applied to your limbs, then you don't feel as cold.

Quote: Pacomartin

But you can't be delusional and think it is saving you money because it is still keeping you warm even after the power has turned off. It takes a lot of power to warm up the heat sink.

My oil heater takes awhile to heat
up, but once it's hot it takes little power
to keep it hot. I can hear when the
thermo clicks on and off, it's not
very often that it stays on for long.

The radiant heaters I've had seem to
never shut off, they're on constantly.
Right now it's seventy in my office
and the oil heater is set on the lowest
setting possible.

Quote: Pacomartin

Certainly it's useful.

But you can't be delusional and think it is saving you money because it is still keeping you warm even after the power has turned off. It takes a lot of power to warm up the heat sink.

But there is a lot psychology about feeling warm. Heated floors are great because if your feet feels warm, you are less likely to feel uncomfortable with a colder air temperature. So you may expend less total energy. But that is just basic biology, because the body warms the core first when it is cold. So if your external heat source is applied to your limbs, then you don't feel as cold.

Of course, not, if something has a high latent heat capacity, it will take energy to get hot... but then you can store it and emit it slowly.