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I'm more curious on how do Intel CPUs compare to space heaters? (I mean in comparison to the regular electric resistance heaters.) Heat pumps are ultra-efficie

I'm more curious on how do Intel CPUs compare to space heaters? (I mean in comparison to the regular electric resistance heaters.) Heat pumps are ultra-efficient but even the cheapest heat pumps cost a few thousand dollars (and require expert installation – so they're not suitable if you're renting, for example).

ilyt 4y ago
> I'm more curious on how do Intel CPUs compare to space heaters? (I mean in comparison to the regular electric resistance heaters.) Near-exactly same 100% efficiency of turning power to heat.
londons_explore 4y ago
For $3, you can buy a rather inefficient thermoelectric heat pump[1]. It is still more efficient than a space heater though. Any old refrigerator is also a fairly good DIY heat pump - and if you design it right, you can easily get a COP of 4+. Obviously a typical refrigerator will only do about 600 BTU/h. But thats still plenty for super insulated rooms. [1]: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001621702934.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001621702934.html?
Robotbeat 4y ago
Well you can get a fan with 1500 Watts of heat for $18 at Walmart, so the cost per watt is crazy low for these kinds of heaters, $0.012/Watt. Or just, like, steel wire of the right length shoved into an electrical outlet (not much different in principle, maybe a couple cents worth of steel wire…). Baseboard space heaters are like $90 for 1500Watts, or $0.06/Watt. A consumer GPU is like $2.80/Watt. Now the cost of the electricity itself, if converted to a capital cost equivalent, is like $10/Watt for residential 24/7/365 electricity in much of the US. An air source heat pump like a mini split costs like $900 for 3600 Watts of heat (typical weird units like 12,000 BTU per hour but usually they omit the “per hour” part because marketing people hate clarity LOL), so just $0.25/Watt for heat but it’s even better because you have a third the electricity usage, so your capital equivalent electricity cost is just $3/Watt.
pwg 4y ago
> I'm more curious on how do Intel CPUs compare to space heaters? (I mean in comparison to the regular electric resistance heaters.) The 'heat' produced by a CPU in operation is resistive heating. The heat results from the current flowing through the parasitic resistances of the silicon die. So it would be equally efficient as a space heater (as in, 100% of electrical wattage in becomes heat out). The difference is a space heater produces only heat, while a CPU might be performing some other function, while also producing heat.

ilyt 4y ago

> I'm more curious on how do Intel CPUs compare to space heaters? (I mean in comparison to the regular electric resistance heaters.) Near-exactly same 100% efficiency of turning power to heat.

londons_explore 4y ago

For $3, you can buy a rather inefficient thermoelectric heat pump[1]. It is still more efficient than a space heater though. Any old refrigerator is also a fairly good DIY heat pump - and if you design it right, you can easily get a COP of 4+. Obviously a typical refrigerator will only do about 600 BTU/h. But thats still plenty for super insulated rooms. [1]: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001621702934.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001621702934.html?

Robotbeat 4y ago

Well you can get a fan with 1500 Watts of heat for $18 at Walmart, so the cost per watt is crazy low for these kinds of heaters, $0.012/Watt. Or just, like, steel wire of the right length shoved into an electrical outlet (not much different in principle, maybe a couple cents worth of steel wire…). Baseboard space heaters are like $90 for 1500Watts, or $0.06/Watt. A consumer GPU is like $2.80/Watt. Now the cost of the electricity itself, if converted to a capital cost equivalent, is like $10/Watt for residential 24/7/365 electricity in much of the US. An air source heat pump like a mini split costs like $900 for 3600 Watts of heat (typical weird units like 12,000 BTU per hour but usually they omit the “per hour” part because marketing people hate clarity LOL), so just $0.25/Watt for heat but it’s even better because you have a third the electricity usage, so your capital equivalent electricity cost is just $3/Watt.

pwg 4y ago

> I'm more curious on how do Intel CPUs compare to space heaters? (I mean in comparison to the regular electric resistance heaters.) The 'heat' produced by a CPU in operation is resistive heating. The heat results from the current flowing through the parasitic resistances of the silicon die. So it would be equally efficient as a space heater (as in, 100% of electrical wattage in becomes heat out). The difference is a space heater produces only heat, while a CPU might be performing some other function, while also producing heat.