A furnace/combustion chamber in which finely ground fuel is blown in spirals in the combustion chamber to maximize combustion efficiency.

The amount of BTU's/hour or kW's produced by a heating system from the burning of a fuel.

An air heater in which air is blown over electric resistance heating coils.

The ability of a building construction assembly (partition, wall, floor, etc.) to resist the passage of fire. The rating is expressed in hours.

A registered trademark name for houses built with tires, aluminum cans, and earth.

A unit or measure of electricity supply or consumption of 1,000 Watts over the period of one hour; equivalent to 3,412 Btu.

The arithmetic wind speed over a specified time period and height above the ground (the majority of U.S. National Weather Service anemometers are at 20 feet (6.1 meters).

A material applied to window panes that controls heat gain and loss, reduces glare, minimizes fabric fading, and provides privacy. These films are retrofitted on existing windows.

A form of thermal energy resulting from combustion, chemical reaction, friction, or movement of electricity. As a thermodynamic condition, heat, at a constant pressure, is equal to internal or intrinsic energy plus pressure times volume.

An electrochemical battery that uses lead and lead oxide for electrodes and sulfuric acid for the electrolyte.

The process of breaking down organic material; reduction of the net energy level and change in physical and chemical composition of organic material.

The trapping of light inside a semiconductor material by refracting and reflecting the light at critical angles; trapped light will travel further in the material, greatly increasing the probability of absorption and hence of producing charge carriers.

The force that pulls a wind turbine blade, as opposed to drag.

The wind speed with 50 percent probability of occurring.

This is an independent regulatory agency within the U.S. DOE that has jurisdiction over interstate electricity sales, wholesale electric rates, natural gas pricing, oil pipeline rates, and gas pipeline certification. It also licenses and inspects private, ...

The distance between similar points on successive waves.

States that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only changed from one form to another. First Law efficiency measures the fraction of energy supplied to a device or process that it delivers in its output. Also called the law of conservation of energ ...

The process of managing the consumption of energy, generally to optimize available and planned generation resources.

The ratio of the radiant energy (heat) leaving (being emitted by) a surface to that of a black body at the same temperature and with the same area; expressed as a number between 0 and 1.

A type of heat pump that uses the ground, ground water, or ponds as a heat source and heat sink, rather than outside air. Ground or water temperatures are more constant and are warmer in winter and cooler in summer than air temperatures. Geothermal heat p ...