Why does it only get hotter still?

Question

Hello

When I open the doors and the temperature outside is colder than inside by about 2*C, it gets hotter inside.
When I shut the door, it also gets hotter and at a faster rate.
But this is happening when there is no sun shining into the house, no heating on, no cooking, no baths run and nothing else evidently giving heat.

How does the heat get there? how can I stop it?

Sabretooth

Answer 1

you're producing heat. A human being produces 100W of heat.
If you're keeping a light bulb on, it's producing heat too... (50 to 100W for an incandescent light bulb : ie normal light bulb. Check what's writen on it if you want to know)

Keeping your computer on will produce heat as well (200W to 500W depending on the technology you're using)

Is that helping?

oh! another thing, an electric heating device never produces more than 1000W of heat. So you only need to have 10 light bulbs on to produce as much heat as 1 electric heater.


Of course, there's also the fact that your house is insolated against cold (and therefore does it's best to keep all the heat inside)


Well, open your window, it will help

Answer 2

The house itself has been absorbing enormous amounts of energy from the sun and it takes a while for that heat to travel through the walls. It's like a big storage radiator, if you like.

As the air cools in the evening, the heat in the bricks and the roof has begun to radiate from the inside walls, so the house is warmer inside than the outside air, even though the sun has now gone down.

You can't stop it but you can let an air current run through the house by opening windows and doors (always being sure that you are still secure. Never leave an open door unattended - this weather is good for burglars!)

Answer 3

Depends on various things, for example -
a) What is your house mainly made of? Stone / brick / sand, and also water can store heat for quite a long while.
b) Where do you measure inside temperature? Basement - ground floor, upper floor? Warm air always rises up. Maybe you will find that your basement cools down at the same rate as it warms up "upstairs".