3 ms·
If I understand the article correctly, you're talking about two different things. Something can be efficiently heated but if it cools down all of that energy i
by enkid 5y ago
If I understand the article correctly, you're talking about two different things. Something can be efficiently heated but if it cools down all of that energy is effectively lost. This device would allow you to recapture some of that energy that is lost to then reheat the water. Think of it more as active insulation than a better heating element.
- leoedin 5y agoI don't think that's quite how it works. This device (or any thermoelectric generator) converts a fraction of the heat energy flowing through it into electrical energy. That means energy has to flow through it for it to work - essentially the opposite of insulating. Using this device, by definition, will result in the original hot thing being cooler, and the "cold end" (normally the outside world) being ever so slightly warmer. The place this would be useful is in capturing otherwise unusable energy from low grade heat waste. For example, the output water of a steam turbine might still be "hot", but there's very little you can do with it - it's in the wrong place for heating houses, it's too cold for steam turbines. Generally that energy is lost to the air.