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This does exist. For industrial applications, there's http://www.freeaire.com/ http://www.freeaire.com/. There are also small fans designed for use with RV frid

This does exist. For industrial applications, there's http://www.freeaire.com/ http://www.freeaire.com/. There are also small fans designed for use with RV fridges that could do the same thing. Unfortunately, in a cold climate, you need to heat your house anyway. Electric heat is more expensive than natural gas or oil heat, so you might save some money, but from a greenhouse gas perspective, the savings are small at best.

jwilliams 18y ago
Yeah, good point.
furyg3 18y ago
"but from a greenhouse gas perspective, the savings are small at best" Taking that argument down to an even more micro-level: most of the light in my apartment comes from overhead halogen lights (hot), and sometimes I'm inclined to switch them for energy efficient fixtures, but... I live in a cold place anyway, so I'm not sure that switching makes a lot of sense. I know it's more efficient for the central heating system to be doing the heating (and not light bulbs, refrigerators, or laptops), but I need the heat, I need the light, and my energy bill isn't that big, so why switch?
- pingswept 18y ago
  Because natural gas is around 4x cheaper per joule than electricity. If your energy bill is, say, $10 per month, maybe it's not worth it. Would you buy $30 in lightbulbs to save $7.50 * 12 months * 10 years = $900 over the next ten years? If not, would you like to fund my startup?
  - billswift 18y ago
    I've heard this over and over, but in my area many people have been switching from gas to electric and saving money. Now that gas prices are supposedly starting to fall because of lack of demand maybe things will start getting rational again - even with lower distribution costs there should be no way electricity would be equivalent to gas, much less cheaper.
    - amalcon 18y ago
      These people have been (most likely) switching to heat pumps, not space-heaters. The heat you get from a light bulb is purely waste from the resistance of the light bulb, so the output per unit of input will be around 1:1, comparable to that of a space-heater. Heat pumps are much more efficient, because they give you both the waste heat (from resistance) and heat from outside.
    - pingswept 18y ago
      I can't claim to have done a worldwide survey of gas and electricity prices, but my 4x number is from a direct calculation off of my own utility bills. I did the calculation about 2 years ago, but both costs have remained relatively constant (within 25%, say?) where I live in Boston since then. Additionally, Massachusetts electric prices are around 2x the national average (~$0.20/kWh rather than ~$0.10/kWh). But maybe I'm a statistical anomaly. I'd be interested to see broader evidence if you've got it. As mentioned in another reply to your comment, it could be that people are getting some savings by using heat pumps rather than resistive heaters. For temperatures near room temperature, heat pumps have a coefficient of performance as high as 3 or 4, but as it gets colder, it approaches 1. In a warm place like California, you might beat an inefficient old gas furnace with an electric heat pump.

jwilliams 18y ago

Yeah, good point.

furyg3 18y ago

"but from a greenhouse gas perspective, the savings are small at best" Taking that argument down to an even more micro-level: most of the light in my apartment comes from overhead halogen lights (hot), and sometimes I'm inclined to switch them for energy efficient fixtures, but... I live in a cold place anyway, so I'm not sure that switching makes a lot of sense. I know it's more efficient for the central heating system to be doing the heating (and not light bulbs, refrigerators, or laptops), but I need the heat, I need the light, and my energy bill isn't that big, so why switch?

pingswept 18y ago
Because natural gas is around 4x cheaper per joule than electricity. If your energy bill is, say, $10 per month, maybe it's not worth it. Would you buy $30 in lightbulbs to save $7.50 * 12 months * 10 years = $900 over the next ten years? If not, would you like to fund my startup?
- billswift 18y ago
  I've heard this over and over, but in my area many people have been switching from gas to electric and saving money. Now that gas prices are supposedly starting to fall because of lack of demand maybe things will start getting rational again - even with lower distribution costs there should be no way electricity would be equivalent to gas, much less cheaper.
  - amalcon 18y ago
    These people have been (most likely) switching to heat pumps, not space-heaters. The heat you get from a light bulb is purely waste from the resistance of the light bulb, so the output per unit of input will be around 1:1, comparable to that of a space-heater. Heat pumps are much more efficient, because they give you both the waste heat (from resistance) and heat from outside.
  - pingswept 18y ago
    I can't claim to have done a worldwide survey of gas and electricity prices, but my 4x number is from a direct calculation off of my own utility bills. I did the calculation about 2 years ago, but both costs have remained relatively constant (within 25%, say?) where I live in Boston since then. Additionally, Massachusetts electric prices are around 2x the national average (~$0.20/kWh rather than ~$0.10/kWh). But maybe I'm a statistical anomaly. I'd be interested to see broader evidence if you've got it. As mentioned in another reply to your comment, it could be that people are getting some savings by using heat pumps rather than resistive heaters. For temperatures near room temperature, heat pumps have a coefficient of performance as high as 3 or 4, but as it gets colder, it approaches 1. In a warm place like California, you might beat an inefficient old gas furnace with an electric heat pump.