Care needs to be taken when considering the viscous dissipation in the energy conservation formulation of the natural convection problem in fluid-saturated porous media. The unique energy formulation compatible with the First Law of Thermodynamics informs us that if the viscous dissipation term is taken into account, also the work of pressure forces term needs to be taken into account. In integral terms, the work of pressure forces must equal the energy dissipated by viscous effects, and the net energy generation in the overall domain must be zero. If only the (positive) viscous dissipation term is considered in the energy conservation equation, the domain behaves as a heat multiplier, with an heat output greater than the heat input. Only the energy formulation consistent with the First Law of Thermodynamics leads to the correct flow and temperature fields, as well as of the heat transfer parameters characterizing the involved porous device. Attention is given to the natural convection problem in a square enclosure filled with a fluid-saturated porous medium, using the Darcy Law to describe the fluid flow, but the main ideas and conclusions apply equally for any general natural or mixed convection heat transfer problem. It is also analyzed the validity of the Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation when applied to natural convection problems in fluid-saturated porous media. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.