A numerical analysis has been performed to examine the characteristics of laminar natural convection in vertical channel with unheated entry and unheated exit. The heated section is subjected to uniform wall temperature (UWT) or uniform heat flux (UHF). Theoretical results for average Nusselt number $$\overline {Nu} $$ and induced volume flow rateQ were derived under fully developed condition. Particular attention is paid to investigating the effects of the partially heated section on the induced volume flow rate and Nusselt number for various conditions. Results show that for UWT the induced volume flow rateQ increases with decreasing unheated entry length or increasing total length of heated section and unheated exit. For a fixed unheated entry length, the channel with a longer heated section length causes a greaterQ. Additionally, for both UWT and UHF, the average Nusselt number $$\overline {Nu} $$ under fully-developed condition increases with increasing value ofE 1/E 2.