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How hot does waste heat from data centers get? Is it up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit? Seems like it would be difficult to efficiently transport that heat into near

How hot does waste heat from data centers get? Is it up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit? Seems like it would be difficult to efficiently transport that heat into nearby homes.

changoplatanero 4y ago
Oh I see that they can use heat pumps to concentrate the heat and make its reuse more efficient
- m_eiman 4y ago
  Yes, the water is heated to 90-120 Celcius before being circulated.
cmutel 4y ago
The Nordic countries are famous for pioneering low temperature district heating. This can be as low as 50 C. Sorry, no citation, this is what I heard at a project meeting on district heating networks in Switzerland. District heating with such (relatively) low temperatures is no problem, the energy to pump is much less than the energy to heat. My house is heated from nuclear waste heat pumped more around 10 kilometers.
- Hamuko 4y ago
  My apartment will be heated by Microsoft Teams calls. https://yle.fi/news/3-12363215 https://yle.fi/news/3-12363215
- Symbiote 4y ago
  This is the English part of the website for the Danish District Heat Association. My apartment and office (like much of Copenhagen) are heated through incinerated waste. https://www.danskfjernvarme.dk/sitetools/english https://www.danskfjernvarme.dk/sitetools/english
brtkdotse 4y ago
A lot of housing in Sweden is heated using left over heat from the industry (“spillvärme”). The industries actually rely on this for cooling. From what I hear, it’s usually pretty expensive compared to ground/air-to-water heat pumps (1 SEK vs 0.4 SEK per kWh of heat)
- danuker 4y ago
  > The industries actually rely on this for cooling. And what if the housing gets too hot? Does industry stop because of overheating during hot months? > it’s usually pretty expensive So why do people heat that way? Is it legislated into existence? Why? To reduce global warming?
  - raverbashing 4y ago
    I'm guessing the heat pump cost is only the cost of electricity (which can vary as well) and not the cost of the pump
    - brtkdotse 4y ago
      Correct. Cost of heat pump installation is €10k-25k, cost of distributed heating is <€5k
  - c_o_n_v_e_x 4y ago
    >And what if the housing gets too hot? Does industry stop because of overheating during hot months? You keep working and dump the excess heat to the air.
  - Symbiote 4y ago
    > So why do people heat that way? I'm not sure of the historical costs, but benefits are reducing dependencies on particular energy sources, reducing global warming, and heat pumps not being invented yet (long ago). There is legislation along the lines of houses built here must be connected, just like they must also be connected to the sewage system.
wasmitnetzen 4y ago
Stockholm has the "Open District Heating" project doing that: https://www.opendistrictheating.com/ https://www.opendistrictheating.com/ (Disclaimer: I work for a company involved in this)

How hot does waste heat from data centers get? Is it up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit? Seems like it would be difficult to efficiently transport that heat into nearby homes.

changoplatanero 4y ago

Oh I see that they can use heat pumps to concentrate the heat and make its reuse more efficient

m_eiman 4y ago
Yes, the water is heated to 90-120 Celcius before being circulated.

cmutel 4y ago

The Nordic countries are famous for pioneering low temperature district heating. This can be as low as 50 C. Sorry, no citation, this is what I heard at a project meeting on district heating networks in Switzerland. District heating with such (relatively) low temperatures is no problem, the energy to pump is much less than the energy to heat. My house is heated from nuclear waste heat pumped more around 10 kilometers.

Hamuko 4y ago
My apartment will be heated by Microsoft Teams calls. https://yle.fi/news/3-12363215 https://yle.fi/news/3-12363215
Symbiote 4y ago
This is the English part of the website for the Danish District Heat Association. My apartment and office (like much of Copenhagen) are heated through incinerated waste. https://www.danskfjernvarme.dk/sitetools/english https://www.danskfjernvarme.dk/sitetools/english

brtkdotse 4y ago

A lot of housing in Sweden is heated using left over heat from the industry (“spillvärme”). The industries actually rely on this for cooling. From what I hear, it’s usually pretty expensive compared to ground/air-to-water heat pumps (1 SEK vs 0.4 SEK per kWh of heat)

danuker 4y ago
> The industries actually rely on this for cooling. And what if the housing gets too hot? Does industry stop because of overheating during hot months? > it’s usually pretty expensive So why do people heat that way? Is it legislated into existence? Why? To reduce global warming?
- raverbashing 4y ago
  I'm guessing the heat pump cost is only the cost of electricity (which can vary as well) and not the cost of the pump
  - brtkdotse 4y ago
    Correct. Cost of heat pump installation is €10k-25k, cost of distributed heating is <€5k
- c_o_n_v_e_x 4y ago
  >And what if the housing gets too hot? Does industry stop because of overheating during hot months? You keep working and dump the excess heat to the air.
- Symbiote 4y ago
  > So why do people heat that way? I'm not sure of the historical costs, but benefits are reducing dependencies on particular energy sources, reducing global warming, and heat pumps not being invented yet (long ago). There is legislation along the lines of houses built here must be connected, just like they must also be connected to the sewage system.

wasmitnetzen 4y ago

Stockholm has the "Open District Heating" project doing that: https://www.opendistrictheating.com/ https://www.opendistrictheating.com/ (Disclaimer: I work for a company involved in this)