Experimental results are presented on the heating effect and rate of ionization produced by an axial discharge (~1O kA) in hydrogen gas at filling pressures of 25--400 mTorr. The electron temperature remains very low (about 1�5 eV) even at ohmic heating power levels as high as 200 MWm-3 ? The results are compared with a theoretical model which assumes that the only energy loss mechanism is ionization of neutral particles. The importance of other loss mechanisms, including convection, conduction and radiation, is also discussed.