4 ms·
That's very cool stuff, and a really clever solution to a highly constrained problem. I'd really love to see one in action - and it looks like I could. > Why d
by mjb 14y ago
That's very cool stuff, and a really clever solution to a highly constrained problem. I'd really love to see one in action - and it looks like I could.
> Why do this instead of powering each device individually? One: you save three electric motors. Two: there is no need to provide batteries or electric outlets at any of the locations. Three: you can balance the system so that one device helps power the other, saving a considerable amount of energy.
Pairing rocking machines like this is a real efficiency improvement, especially with IC and steam engines where you don't really have the option of capturing the return stroke's energy directly. Even with an electrical system, where this is possible, it would add a whole lot of complexity.
> In these cases, you can distribute mechanical energy without conversion losses.
Without conversion losses, maybe. However, you are going to lose a lot of energy to friction (especially if you have a lot of the rocking posts, friction posts, hold-downs and so on). Also, unless the rods connecting the machines are perfectly elastic you're going to lose a bunch of energy to heating the rods themselves.
You can have all the "Doubts on progress and technology" you want, but if you only count one kind of loss (electrical conversion) and not another (mechanical friction and inelastic fraction) you're going to end up with a non-realistic bias in favor of mechanical systems every time.
- bigiain 14y ago"You can have all the "Doubts on progress and technology" you want, but if you only count one kind of loss (electrical conversion) and not another (mechanical friction and inelastic fraction) you're going to end up with a non-realistic bias in favor of mechanical systems every time." I've been wondering for a while whether anyone's trying to re-capture some of the "lost" energy from household electrical systems. I wonder why my fridge, aircon, and stove aren't "pre heating" the cold water going into my hot water heater? I even wonder why all my "fixed electronics" - I'm looking at the TV, Playstation, audio gear, media center PC, home networking gear - have all got heatsinks and fans "disposing" of "waste heat" (which I sometimes then spend more money dealing with by cooling the room down with aircon). Is there _really_ no good way to capture all that "waste heat" and use it to offset the energy I consume having a hot shower every day? (I'm guessing I'm not the first to ever have these thoughts, and that the answer right now is "power is so cheap that the payback time for any available technology that could do this is way longer than practical". Which satisfies the pragmatist in me, but still makes the tree-hugger in me slightly melancholy.)
- marvin 14y agoThere is a very simple solution to this if you are in an area where electricity is cheap and the climate is cold. Simply use electrical heaters with a thermostat. Using electronic appliances, including light bulbs, increases the temperature and reduces the time your heaters have to run. This is also the reason why low-energy light bulbs are less profitable in certain countries.
- bigiain 14y agoYep. I've mostly go the other problem though. Here in Sydney Australia, it's reasonably rare for us to need to heat the house - especially right now, in the middle of our summer. Even in the middle of a Sydney winter it's uncommon for us to actively heat the house - we've only got one "space heater" in the house, a little 1000W fan heater that mostly gets used to dry rained-on motorcycle jackets/boots/gloves. Very rarey (perhaps 2 or 3 days per year) we run the aircon in reverse-cycle heating mode. I guess that your comment probably reveals another reason why this idea isn't currently economically feasible - the "richest market" where the pre-conditions for it to work (households with significant amounts of "waste heat generating electronics" running permanently or close to), is surely the USA and the 2nd richest market is probably western Europe. Both regions where for a large part of their population, the climate is cold enough for significant parts of the year for your simple solution to be "good enough". A market the size of Australia (~20million people) probably isn't anything like big enough to get the economy of scale to work. Now my tree-hugger side is even more melancholy...
- spearo77 14y agoMichael Mobbs has been at it for a while.. http://sustainablehouse.com.au http://sustainablehouse.com.au Check out "The Plan" for the larger scale objectives.
- emiliobumachar 14y agoI would think using electronic appliances would save heating effort on any closed-loop heating system, electrical or not. Am I missing something? Other than that, great point.