Calculate convective heat transfer from a surface using Newton’s law of cooling.
The convective coefficient spans four orders of magnitude between natural convection in air and boiling, which is why it dominates any thermal design. Heat flow is otherwise simply proportional to area and temperature difference. Adding a fan can raise the coefficient tenfold, which is usually far cheaper than increasing surface area by the same factor.
Convection Heat Transfer
Q̇ = h A (T_s − T_∞)
Q̇ = h A (T_s − T_∞) The convective coefficient spans four orders of magnitude between natural convection in air and boiling, which is why it dominates any thermal design. Heat flow is otherwise simply proportional to area and temperature difference.
Adding a fan can raise the coefficient tenfold, which is usually far cheaper than increasing surface area by the same factor.
This calculator takes 4 inputs: Convective heat transfer coefficient, Surface area, Surface temperature, Surrounding fluid temperature. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.