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Transcript:
Hello! Blake here from Tekta, and this week, we’re answering the question, “What is U-value?” U-values are an important consideration when it comes to doorways, both for external doors, and temperature-controlled environments, like freezers and chillers. U-values are a metric used to express the rate of thermal transmittance through matter. Or, more simply put, the amount of heat that is able to pass through a material or product. U-values are measured in Watts per Square Meter, per Kelvin.
Let’s break that down:
‘Watts’ are a unit of power, defined as “The rate of energy transferred per second.” Energy itself is measured in Joules, one Joule per second equals one Watt. (It’s worth noting that for the purpose of U-values, we’re referring specifically to thermal energy).
The ‘Square meter’ part of this equation refers to the surface area of the door and ensures that data is represented consistently across different door types, and different doorway manufacturers.
‘Kelvin’ is a scale of temperature, similar to degrees Celsius. Although the Kelvin scale differs from degrees, they both increase and decrease in the same increments. For the U-value calculation, ‘Kelvin’ refers to the difference in temperature between the environment on one side of the doorway, in comparison to the temperature on the opposite side the doorway.
So, the equation simply means, the amount of thermal energy that can be transferred through every meter squared of a doorway, for every degree of temperature difference across that doorway.
The lower the U-value, the better insulated (and more efficient) the doorway is.
If you found this useful, feel free to like and subscribe, and be sure to stay tuned for next week’s video.