3 ms·

There is a such thing as a solid state heat pump which operates without refrigerants or any moving parts. They are not as efficient as regular heat pumps, thou

There is a such thing as a solid state heat pump which operates without refrigerants or any moving parts. They are not as efficient as regular heat pumps, though, at least currently. But maybe that could change. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270646164_Efficiency_of_a_thermoelectric_heat_pump https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270646164_Efficienc... https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/downloads/high-efficiency-solid-state-heat-pump-module https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/downloads/high-efficie... https://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=slick-sheet-project/high-efficiency-solid-state-cooling-technologies https://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=slick-sheet-project/high-effici...

vanderZwan 8y ago
You reminded me of Lonnie Johnson's "Johnson Thermo-Electrochemical Convertor", or JTEC for short. On their webpage they say they are aiming for 85% Carnot efficiency for converting heat to electricity, and it can run in reverse to become a heat pump[0][1]. Sadly, I can find no third-party measurements of how well it performs in practice, so I guess it's still in the R&D phase. I did find a nice talk by Johnson about the project though[2]. [0] http://www.johnsonems.com/about/ http://www.johnsonems.com/about/ [1] http://www.johnsonems.com/benefits/ http://www.johnsonems.com/benefits/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6FUk2E9-68 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6FUk2E9-68
colechristensen 8y ago
Thermoelectric Coolers (TEC) or Peltier devices. You can buy small ones and play with them for very little money. They're used all over the place. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15082 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15082