7 ms·
A heat pump in a −273 °C space will convert electricity to heat at a 1:1 ratio. If you count the heat taken from the space around the condenser, which you shou
by seniorsassycat 6y ago
A heat pump in a −273 °C space will convert electricity to heat at a 1:1 ratio.
If you count the heat taken from the space around the condenser, which you should based on Google's definition, heat pumps are only 100% efficient.
Calling heat pumps >100% efficient is like calling my solar water heater >100% efficient. True if you only count the electrical input, and not other sources of energy.
- CobrastanJorji 6y agoYou will be pleased to know that the majority of heat pumps are installed in homes whose exteriors stay above 0 kelvin year round. Also, in what I assume is an efficiency feature, most heat pumps do not allow operation in a zero Kelvin environment. Also, to nit pick: Kelvins are not degrees and do not use a ° sign.
- Nition 6y agoDamn, I've been looking for a zero Kelvin heat pump that works in a vacuum to heat my spherical cows.
- omgwtfbyobbq 6y agoMaybe you wouldn't need to heat them so much if they weren't frictionless.
- mey 6y agoGotta watch out for that Maxwell brand heat pump.
- drran 6y agoAre you trying to liquify vacuum? It's challenging. Try to use a heat pump based on the Casemir effect, fluctuating virtual particles violate the energy conservation of the system for short periods.
- LeifCarrotson 6y agoAnd, as a bonus efficiency feature, most heat pumps are installed with the condenser external to the home! Yes, if you draw an imaginary box around the home and the outdoor/underground condenser, they're exactly 100% efficient, but if you only consider the inside of the home and ignore that the condenser is taking in heat energy from the outside, they're more than 100% efficient.
- seniorsassycat 6y agoThe power station and natural gas plants are outside my house too, so my restive floor heaters and furnace are >100% efficient.
- minitoar 6y agoJust draw an imaginary line around my pocket book then. I pay for the energy I'm getting from the power station. Beyond capex, I don't pay for the energy I'm getting from the heat exchanger.
- _carbyau_ 6y agoAnecdotally, I have come across hotel bar fridges running in entirely enclosed cupboards. Even the power cord exited the box with a rubber seal. Nice attention to detail in physical craftmanship though!
- seniorsassycat 6y agodid not realize kelvin is not a degree. I fixed my comment.
- LocalH 6y agoGood thing they wrote −273 °C and not "0 °K".
- stopping 6y agoThis is incorrect. We measure the "efficiency" of a heat pump by the amount of heat moved into a space divided by the work energy provided to the pump (electricity in this case). This is called the "coefficient of performance". Typical heat pumps have a CoP of 3 or more. Meaning, you can spend 100W of electricity to pump 300W of heat into your home. A purely resistive heater only has a CoP of 1.