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Why convert to gas for heating later when you can just store heat itself?* There was an article/discussion here recently about heat batteries using sand to sto
by zizee 4y ago
Why convert to gas for heating later when you can just store heat itself?*
There was an article/discussion here recently about heat batteries using sand to store heat for months, to use for heating in winter. This tech seems fairly simple to implement at scale.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-07-19/sand-battery-debuts-in-finland-world-first-heat-thermal-storage/101235514 https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-07-19/sand-battery-...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32006791 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32006791
*This is a rhetorical question, I'm sure everyone can easily think of many benefits. But there is elegance in simplicity.
- sbierwagen 4y agoIn the residential context, the magic word here is "ground source heat pump". A really big coolant loop that stores heat underground. Depending on the jurisdiction and loop size, figure it will cost $15,000+
- brazzy 4y agoStoring heat for months requires really, really good insulation, and insulating many small stores is far more expensive than insulating one big store (essentially a square-cube thing). So this kind of thing may only be viable for industrial processes.
- leobg 4y agoSounds great! I wonder: Why is sand better than the dirt that’s already on site? Dirt, after all, contains water, which I believe should have an even higher thermal capacity, or not? Also: How about combining this approach with a heat pump instead of resistive heating?