The paper proposes a method for calculating convective heat transfer in the interaction of a single circular jet with a flat surface. The differences of the proposed method from the existing ones are given. The concepts “energodynamic potential of the flow” and “energodynamic power of the flow” are introduced, allowing to determine the intensity of convective heat transfer at “gas-solid” boundary. Differences of the proposed definitions from the existing ones are given: heat flux and heat flux density. The principal difference between the heat flux density q and the energy dynamic potential qэ is as follows: the heat flux density q for convective heat transfer problems means the amount of heat that is transferred from a liquid to a solid surface (or vice versa) per unit of time through a unit of heat exchange surface area. Thus, quantity q characterizes the intensity of convective heat transfer process at the interface. The energy dynamic potential qэ characterizes the flow property as a source or carrier of heat. Value of qэ characterizes the specific energy power of the fluid flow. When calculating the heat transfer, it was proposed to divide the jet when interacting with the flat surface into two parts: before the interaction – the jet part, after – the fan flow. The method for calculating convective heat transfer under jet heating, in which the Reynolds criterion calculated by characteristics of the gas at the nozzle exit is decisive, is not entirely correct. It is proposed to use criteria specific to the fan flow. Characteristic values for the fan flow are its initial average velocity Uвп, distance from the critical point of the jet (point of intersection of vertical axis of the jet with the surface) to the current coordinate of radius downstream. To assess the changes in basic characteristics of a free jet at different distances from the nozzle exit to limiting surface, dependences of the following criteria are presented: jet expansion coefficient; jet injection coefficient; velocity coefficient for any jet section; velocity coefficient for any jet section, except h/d0 = 0; relation of the Reynolds criteria, confirming the need to carry out calculations of heat transfer on the values characteristic separately for the fan flow.