Common joke says that heaters are 100% effient because all they make is heat. How much energy is actually lost?
In: Physics
With electricity the efficiency losses have effectively been done for you wherever the energy is generated. So it isn’t 100% efficient from the energy source, be that solar, wind, gas, coal, transmission losses etc. It will always be more efficient to use a gas boiler than use electricity generated by gas to power an electric heater.
However, it is 100% efficient in that all the energy is converted into heat, bearing in mind all wasted energy eventually becomes heat. In the sense of heating whatever you want to heat (normally you) it is inefficient in that is is merely transitting the heat to you via air conduction, radiation or whatever method. It is not directly heating you. This is why electric blankets, heated clothing etc are the most efficient heat sources in that they mainly heat you rather than the room at large.
Of course, there is also a need to heat dwellings to prevent decay, mould etc and to that extent some of the “wasted” heat is not wasted at all. Calculating the actual efficiency – e.g. heat that you want or need to have – is almost impossible, but definitely not 100%.
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