Sensible heat

Figure 1: Campfires emit radiant heat which is felt as sensible heat because it increases the temperature of your body.

Sensible heat is the energy transferred as heat that will change the temperature of a substance with no phase change. In other words, it is the heat that can be felt standing near a fire, or standing outside on a sunny day. Sensible heat is used in contrast to latent heat (the heat needed to change from one form of matter to another, which doesn't change temperature), as the two are essentially opposite.

For example, in a cooling system condensation forms due to removal of latent heat, and the refrigerant (cooling liquid) changes temperature due to sensible heat. The sensible heat capacity then describes the capacity required to lower the temperature whereas latent heat capacity is the capacity to remove the moisture from the air.