Heat transfer optimization principle is critically important for further explaining the underlying mechanisms and guiding practical designs of heat transfer processes. Recently, the entransy theory has been successfully used to optimize various steady-state heat transfer processes. Nevertheless, it is still an open question whether this theory can be utilized in transient cases. Here, we examined the applicability of the entransy analyses on the one-dimensional transient heat conduction process. It was found that the entransy dissipation rate can neither derive the transient governing equation nor correspond to the optimal result in the transient optimization problem. Therefore, an extended entransy dissipation rate was defined as the convolution integral of heat flux and negative temperature gradient. The total extended entransy dissipation rate over the time and space domain can correspond to the optimal result of the transient optimization problem. Additionally, Fourier transform was used to convert the transient problem from the time domain into the frequency domain, and the total entransy dissipation rate in the frequency domain will give a convenient optimization criterion that the temperature gradient field should be spatially uniform to reach the shortest characteristic time. Also, the inverse Fourier transform of the entransy dissipation rate in the frequency will be the extended entransy dissipation rate in the time domain. Finally, these findings were used to optimize a practical transient heat conduction problem for a solid thermal energy storage unit. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.