Comparing Wood vs Gas Heat

I-Button Experimental Design Project Many people often take our environmental temperatures in our homes for granted. A majority of us have automated heating and cooling systems, electric or gas systems for example, that regulate temperature within a range of a roughly a couple of degrees. However, some individuals, either through choice or through necessity, must rely on alternate heating systems such as a wood burning fireplace. The proposed experiment will compare the temperature ranges that are observed by an iButton temperature logger in different heating system designs.

Statement of Need Heating and cooling costs can be one of the greatest expenses relative to maintaining a house. Furthermore, in the future, these costs could grow substantially as energy prices rise due to the fact that many sources of energy are non-renewable or for the fact that policies may be introduced to greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change. Whatever the case may be, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of how heating systems can affect the ambient indoor temperature in homes.

Furthermore, data collected in this experiment could also be used to help determine which weatherizing procedures might be the most cost effective in terms of energy efficiency in different heating systems. Specific Aims The specific aims of the experiment will be to determine the amount of energy used by different forms of heating in a normal household environment with different sources of heat being used. Data will be collected over a two-day period.

A baseline temperature of a dwelling with no heat will first be recorded followed by the same house using only natural gas for heat. The next stage will determine how the house performs in terms of its temperature with just heat generated from a wood burning fireplace. Finally, a combination of heat from natural gas systems in conjunction with the wood fireplace will be tested. It is hypothesized that the temperature of the house will fluctuate the most with just the use of a wood burning system.

Plan of Operation The experiment will be conducted over a two-day period with four periods of twelve hour sessions. The first twelve hours will be used to determine a baseline temperature and both indoor and outdoor temperatures will be recorded at one hour intervals. The next phase will use the gas burning system as a source of heat and repeat the temperature recording procedures.

During this phase the time in which the indoor temperature reaches its thermostat setting will be recorded as and regular observation will identify how effectively the system is able to hold this temperature. The next phase will involve using only the wood burning fireplace for the next twelve hours. It should be noted that this phase will begin with the house at roughly the temperature that the thermostat was set to in the previous phase.

Wood will be regularly added to the fireplace as needed and frequent temperature recordings will be made. It is hypothesized that the temperature will vary significantly relative to using only gas.