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DIRECTION OF HEAT FLOW

METEOROLOGIST JEFF HABY

Heat flows from a region of excess to a region of deficit. When an object feels warm, heat is moving from the object toward you. When an object feels cold, heat is moving from you and into the object. As an analogy to pressure, air moves from high pressure (excess pressure) to lower pressure (deficit pressure). The diagram below shows a typical situation that occurs when the air temperature outside is colder than the indoor temperature. There is a wall separating the cold air from the warm air. Heat flows in the direction from the warm inside portion of the wall toward the colder outside portion of the wall. The inside of the building gets colder because of this and a heater is needed in order to keep the inside a comfortable warm temperature. Good insulation inside the wall will slow the heat flow and thus not as much heat from the heater will be needed to keep the inside warm.