Furnace facts for kids

A furnace is a special machine that makes heat. You might think of it as the heart of a heating system, especially in homes. While people in the United States often use the word "furnace" for their home heating, people in the United Kingdom might call it a boiler, heater, or kiln.

But furnaces aren't just for keeping houses cozy! There are also huge industrial furnaces. These powerful machines create intense heat for big jobs, like making metals or other materials.

What is a Furnace?

A furnace is basically a closed space where fuel is burned to create heat. This heat can then be used for many different things.

Home Furnaces: Keeping You Warm

In homes, a furnace is usually part of a central heating system. It warms up air, and then a fan blows this warm air through ducts (like big tubes) to different rooms in your house. This is how your home stays toasty during cold weather!

How Home Furnaces Work

Most home furnaces use natural gas, oil, or electricity as fuel.

• Gas furnaces burn natural gas to heat a metal box called a heat exchanger. Air blows over this hot box, gets warm, and then travels through your home.
• Oil furnaces work in a similar way, but they burn heating oil instead of gas.
• Electric furnaces use electric heating elements, like giant toaster coils, to warm the air.

Parts of a Home Furnace

A typical home furnace has a few main parts:

• Burners: Where the fuel is ignited.
• Heat Exchanger: A metal chamber that gets hot from the burning fuel and transfers heat to the air.
• Blower Fan: Pushes the warm air through the ducts and into your rooms.
• Ductwork: The system of pipes that carries warm air around your house.
• Thermostat: The control panel on your wall that tells the furnace when to turn on and off to reach your desired temperature.

Industrial Furnaces: Big Heat for Big Jobs

Industrial furnaces are much larger and more powerful than home furnaces. They are used in factories and plants for many different processes that need very high temperatures.

Making Metals with Furnaces

One important use for industrial furnaces is in metallurgy, which is the science of working with metals.

• Blast furnaces are a great example. They are enormous furnaces used to make iron from iron ore. Inside a blast furnace, iron ore, coke (a type of fuel), and limestone are heated to incredibly high temperatures. This process melts the iron and removes impurities, creating the iron we use to build so many things.
• Other industrial furnaces are used to melt different metals, treat them with heat, or even create new materials.

History of Furnaces

People have been using furnaces for thousands of years! Early furnaces were simple pits or ovens used for baking bread or firing pottery. Over time, they became more advanced. The development of better materials and fuels led to the powerful furnaces we have today, both for our homes and for industry.

Images for kids

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  An oil furnace

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  A condensing furnace