# What is Heat Transfer Coefficient?

**URL:** <https://www.simscale.com/forum/t/what-is-heat-transfer-coefficient/94863>\
**Category:** Post-processing\
**Created:** [January 17, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://www.simscale.com/forum/t/what-is-heat-transfer-coefficient/94863 "2022-01-17T18:21:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![juanmfernandes](https://www.simscale.com/forum/user_avatar/www.simscale.com/juanmfernandes/32/40638_2.png) [@juanmfernandes](https://www.simscale.com/forum/u/juanmfernandes)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://www.simscale.com/forum/t/what-is-heat-transfer-coefficient/94863/1 "2022-01-17T18:21:20Z")

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Hi there,

I have a simple question, I would like to understand what Heat Transfer Coefficient is and how to get/calculate its value. I am an architect, I don´t know much about engineering, so I would appreciate it if someone can explain it in simple terms.

For instance, if I am running a Conjugate Heat Transfer simulation and I would like to have a boundary condition as a concrete wall, which Heat Transfer Coefficient should I use for this boundary?

Thank you very much!

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**Author:** ![jairogut](https://www.simscale.com/forum/user_avatar/www.simscale.com/jairogut/32/38435_2.png) [@jairogut](https://www.simscale.com/forum/u/jairogut)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 11:50pm UTC](https://www.simscale.com/forum/t/what-is-heat-transfer-coefficient/94863/2 "2022-01-17T23:50:08Z")

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Dear Juan.

There is plenty of information to answer your question on the Internet. For example [Heat transfer coefficient - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_transfer_coefficient#:~:text=The%20heat%20transfer%20coefficient%20is%20the%20heat%20transferred%20per%20unit,area%20for%20each%20fluid%20side)… There are many types of heat transfer coefficients and you should be more specific (or use a screenshot). For your case, it appears to be the conductive heat transfer coefficient which is related to the conductivity of thermal energy through your material (how easy is to transport thermal energy aka “heat” through the material). For concrete, you have from 0.6~3.6 W m−1 K−1 depending on aggregates used and other variables: [Effect of Surrogate Aggregates on the Thermal Conductivity of Concrete at Ambient and Elevated Temperatures](https://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2014/939632/)

While I know you are an architect, if you want to focus on Conjugated Heat Transfer studies, I strongly suggest you study or take courses in this topic (there are many options on the internet such as [https://www.udemy.com/course/an-introduction-to-heat-transfer/](https://www.udemy.com/course/an-introduction-to-heat-transfer/)).

Best regards,

Jairo

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**Author:** ![anon41772514](https://www.simscale.com/forum/letter_avatar/anon41772514/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@anon41772514](https://www.simscale.com/forum/u/anon41772514)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 7:43am UTC](https://www.simscale.com/forum/t/what-is-heat-transfer-coefficient/94863/3 "2022-01-18T07:43:15Z")

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Hi Juan,  
I guess that the info from jairogut is enough theoretical input.  
On the SimScale platform site, I can suggest you have a look at this article on how to set up different wall conditions.

> **[Wall & Window Settings for Thermal Comfort Simulations](https://www.simscale.com/knowledge-base/how-to-assign-wall-and-window-settings-for-thermal-comfort-simulations/)**
>
> How to assign wall and Wwndow settings for thermal comfort simulations in SimScale. Learn with this knowledge base article.

You can also have a look at this tutorial, it explains very well how to set up an indoor room, with the different Boundary conditions for concrete walls and windows.

> **[Thermal Comfort In a Meeting Room | Tutorial | SimScale](https://www.simscale.com/docs/tutorials/thermal-comfort-meeting-room/)**
>
> Thermal comfort simulation in a meeting room taking into account radiative heat transfer and passive scalar for the prediction of age of air.

Best regards  
Sebastian

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**Author:** ![randjackie005](https://www.simscale.com/forum/letter_avatar/randjackie005/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@randjackie005](https://www.simscale.com/forum/u/randjackie005)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://www.simscale.com/forum/t/what-is-heat-transfer-coefficient/94863/4 "2025-12-26T14:41:33Z")

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Hi, my friend recently made a video about heat pumps and heat transfer coefficients. It might be helpful for anyone interested in this topic to watch it. Any comments, questions, or feedback would be greatly appreciated.  
You can visit this link to watch the video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xaf2dzC\_D3Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xaf2dzC_D3Q)