eli5, how does a city hot water system work? How does hot water remain heated while traveling through pipes to our faucets?

Question

Hello everyone, recently my city has been doing some repairs to the city’s hot water system and i was without hot water for about 3 weeks.

That got me wondering, how exactly does this work? I read something about a heating agent but i don’t know what that means. And how does the water stay hot while travelling from the place it gets heated to our homes?

Thanks!

In: 25

Answer 1

If properly insulated, water can remain hot for a long time. Without the ability to steam away, or transfer the heat elsewhere, water is very good at storing a lot of energy. And if you have one larger and more efficient heating system, as opposed to many smaller and less efficient systems in every home/building, it can be viable on cost and efficiency.