: why can our houses still be cold while it’s warm outside ?
In: Physics
Because your house in insulated. It keeps heat in, and if your house is cold it’s gonna keep the cold in. The short answer is : Insulation.
Depending on where you live and how houses are constructed there, houses can have several layers of insulation. This basically means your house acts as a blanket, and traps cold air inside.
Eg, the house is made purely of brick and mortar. The bricks stay cool for a long time, and keep the air in the house cool by extension. If the house is made purely of metal, it will heat (and cool) quickly, because metal heats and cools quickly.
Also, if the house does not have much ventilation, such as reduced numbers of doors and windows, or windows which are kept closed, there is not much warm air from outside heating the cooler air inside, which contributes to the stay-cool effect.
Other factors include the external environment (eg, a house built in a shaded place will be cooler than the same house in full sunlight), proximity to water bodies, etc.
Simple. Heat is energy. Energy travel from one particle of matter to the next. Some particle have a hard time taking energy, some have a hard time giving away their energy.
What we usually do in building is use “insulation”. Which basically mean “using some kind of material that doesn’t let heat transfer easily”. As a result, most of the heat from inside doesn’t escape outside, saving on fuel to heat the house in winter.
But it works both ways: When the temperature outside is hotter, the insulation also stop the heat from entering. it’s not a “prevent heat to leave” solution, but a “prevent heat to travel through” solution. One way AND the other.
Windows, curtains, brick walls, paint, and all the other layers of houses create a barrier like wearing multiple jumpers on a cold day. Eventually, the heat will get through these barriers, particularly if you keep a few windows open.
I can’t eli5, all i can say is insulation. But I’m sure someone will reply or something and explain insulation
Latest Answers