Debate on terminology

Great question with many different answers.
To me the difference is the water or fluid that indicates boiler.

Or a tough old chicken

In the field, that's easy. Boiler heats water/steam. Furnace heats air.

By definition a boiler can be considered a type of furnace according to Wikipedia.

"The furnace transfers heat to the living space of the building through an intermediary distribution system. If the distribution is through hot water (or other fluid) or through steam, then the furnace is more commonly called a boiler."

You condition the air to what is a liveable and comfortable state. Meaning by adding or subtracting heat, and/or humidity....

Such as an outdoor wood furnace....beacuse it's unpressureized they call it a furnace. I call anything that heats water used for heating a space a boiler.

Splitting hairs...must be board.

Wait until Charles sees my new signature.

Let's get both definitions out there.
boil·er
ˈboilər/
noun
a fuel-burning apparatus or container for heating water, in particular.
a household device providing a hot-water supply or serving a central heating system.
a tank for generating steam under pressure in a steam engine.

Fred said:

ChrisJ said:

And yet, air is a fluid by definition.

"Any substance that flows is considered a fluid. This includes such things as water, shampoo, sunscreen, and even honey. Although not necessarily obvious, even gases, such as air, can be classified as fluids."

Get over it Charles, a boiler can be called a furnace.

Gases are "fluid" meaning they can have natural movement. They are not "Fluids" unless liquefied. Different definition of the term "fluid"

Sorry Fred, you don't get to make up definitions.






A gas is a fluid.

You are all wrong, it's a hot water heater not a boiler or furnace.

ChrisJ said:

KC_Jones said:

You are all wrong, it's a hot water heater not a boiler or furnace.

The origins of the debate.

Really? I had no idea.

LOL! Since a furnace is "an enclosed structure in which heat is produced" yes a boiler is also a furnace. Just like a pellet or wood stove can be a furnace. For whatever reason many in the HVAC industry shorthand the general high level classification term ("furnace") for a forced air heating system yet still refer to other furnace types by their specific operating function, doesn't make them any less a furnace than the forced air units. A Chevy Silverado is a truck but it's also still an automobile. ;-)

https://www.furnacecompare.com/faq/definitions/furnace_types.html

ChrisJ said:

Rich said:

ChrisJ said:

Let's throw up what started this argument.

I told Charles he was wrong, and used this as evidence to back up my argument.

All this proves is that some who write definitions in dictionaries can also be uninformed . Here's my question Chris J , ready ?

At what temperature does air boil ?

Which part of it and at what pressure?

Let's go start Nitrogen since air is mostly Nitrogen.
-320.4°F at 14.7 PSIA.

Oxygen −361.82°F at 14.7 PSIA.

Water : 212°F at 14.7 PSIA.

Carbon Dioxide : −109.3 °F at 14.7 PSIA

Any other questions @Rich ?

No , no other questions . It appears that only water requires a boiler since everything else you mentioned is apparently already boiling and requires no mechanical assistance . All we have to do is get the others mentioned to PSIAbsolute .

It's ok.
Everyone on here says "hot water boiler" even though that would really be a very bad situation.

It's not a hot water boiler, it's a hot water heater.

The only actual boiler, is a steam boiler.

So it appears that the heating business has slowed down a little, regardless of the fluids involved.
I asked my wife to define a fluid, she could only cite liquids as fluids as she is a med tech at the hospital lab. They never analyze gases, only body fluids, which having 4 family members in that business, becomes conversation at holiday dinners ....now with a new one in the funeral director business has introduced a new fluid that being for embalming, (yes, that is a liquid).

So that being said; I always try to explain pressure/boiling points to others by what happens to the human body of it is suddenly placed into a near perfect vacuum....just think of the si-fi movies of this ending in outer space....people always remember that scene.

So 2 weeks ago we were in Huntsville, AL at the space museum.
It is a great place to visit. We were walking the length of the Saturn V rocket that is laying down inside the building. Now you talk about a fuel burner and this takes first place. I overheard a docent answering a question posed by a 30something lady. She wondered what happens if you take you helmet of in outer space. He was very tactfully trying to tell her you would run out of oxygen and quickly suffocate. She seem unsure of that answer so I volunteered my input. I said that in that vacuum your blood would boil and expand tremendously, perhaps by a factor of 1600x and your head would probably pop like a large zit. They both seemed aghast at this suggestion.
Now my wife tells me that I am never very tactful nor PC when saying statements like that.....however am I far from the truth??

When will then be now?

For those civilians out there who are totally confused by this nonsensical thread.

If you want to sound like you know what you are talking about and live in North America :
A boiler heats water or other liquid usually to be distributed around for space heat. Boilers can actually boil the water ( steam boiler) but most do not. Industrial boilers don't necessarily heat space but are still boilers.

Hot water heaters usually heat domestic hot water.

Most furnaces heat air to be distributed around for space heat. Again industrial furnaces are different, they can melt steel and still be a furnace.

Ok, now back to the show!

Charlie from wmass said:

How many times have the civilians been corrected on this wall for calling a boiler a furnace?

Civilians?
Has Heatinghelp gone military?