Turning electricity into heat is pretty much 100% efficient, but all the other conversions have outrageous conversion losses. Regardless, using solar is still the best option overall.
However, fossil fuels are still widely used, and that’s where the losses play a significant role. In that context, using gas to heat water is the simplest and most efficient setup. Converting the combustion products into electricity just introduces additional losses, further decreasing the overall efficiency.
Burning fossil fuels to boil water to create steam to spin turbines to generate electricity to transmit to the residential grid to power your electric kettle to boil water.
Or residential solar cells capturing sunlight to convert to electricity to power your electric kettle?
~(And don’t forget that the fossil fuels were originally sunlight that was captured by plants that died and became fossil fuels that were extracted to be burned…)~
Thanks for being kind, my logic was still bullshit ;-)
I was somehow wondering, if we lose that energy there anyway, without appliances failing, we could use that as heat source - which isn’t too bad of an idea, but just fixing it and using an electric heater would be the actual solution.
I’m still fighting with a fever and headaches since my last business trip and I’m just not that bright at the moment.
And heavy painkillers lowers my inhibitions to just vomit out my thoughts without further reflection ;-)
What I was thinking, was using an AC in my office and using the waste heat to heat up the water in my boiler
The HVAC technician I talked about that laughed at me and said, that’s science fiction
But I don’t really get why.
Wouldn’t that be just a heat pump from the perspective of the boiler and an AC for my office?
Edit: to clarify, I’m aware, that I can’t heat up the water to the level I want with that, but I could pre-heat it, so I don’t need so much power to heat it the rest of the way
Edit 2: and I guess, there is my answer
My boiler usually doesn’t get that low on heat, that this would really make an impact, as it usually hotter than the waste heat
Still, I think, there should be a way to gather the waste heat somehow
You’d need a custom rig to do that, the exact hardware probably doesn’t exist. Maybe someone has instructions for a similar DIY project out there.
I’m not gonna dissuade you from tinkering because maybe you’ll invent something cool. There might be a better way to reuse the heat from a freezer or a fridge or an A/C, even if it’s not to boil your water heater.
Maybe it could keep your plants warm in the winter, or heat your toilet seat, or your aquarium, reptile habitat, or hamster tank. Maybe it could warm up some blankets, our some pouches of sand or pebbles that you can put under your blankets. Maybe warm an incubator or a humidor or a dehydrator. The world is your oyster.
Yeah, shouldn’t have posted
Was a drunk and tired half thought, where I even knew during posting, that it’s stupid
Obviously fixing it and putting the energy where needed is more effective
Just thought, that this seems to be a major loss of energy and how to not lose it.
Fixing it is obviously the way to go ;-)
No, you’re right though, electric water heaters are far more efficient. Especially if you have solar.
Turning electricity into heat is pretty much 100% efficient, but all the other conversions have outrageous conversion losses. Regardless, using solar is still the best option overall.
However, fossil fuels are still widely used, and that’s where the losses play a significant role. In that context, using gas to heat water is the simplest and most efficient setup. Converting the combustion products into electricity just introduces additional losses, further decreasing the overall efficiency.
Burning fossil fuels to boil water to create steam to spin turbines to generate electricity to transmit to the residential grid to power your electric kettle to boil water.
Or residential solar cells capturing sunlight to convert to electricity to power your electric kettle?
~(And don’t forget that the fossil fuels were originally sunlight that was captured by plants that died and became fossil fuels that were extracted to be burned…)~
Thanks for being kind, my logic was still bullshit ;-)
I was somehow wondering, if we lose that energy there anyway, without appliances failing, we could use that as heat source - which isn’t too bad of an idea, but just fixing it and using an electric heater would be the actual solution.
I’m still fighting with a fever and headaches since my last business trip and I’m just not that bright at the moment.
And heavy painkillers lowers my inhibitions to just vomit out my thoughts without further reflection ;-)
Electric water heater + water-based heat distribution & radiators
Voila
What I was thinking, was using an AC in my office and using the waste heat to heat up the water in my boiler
The HVAC technician I talked about that laughed at me and said, that’s science fiction
But I don’t really get why.
Wouldn’t that be just a heat pump from the perspective of the boiler and an AC for my office?
Edit: to clarify, I’m aware, that I can’t heat up the water to the level I want with that, but I could pre-heat it, so I don’t need so much power to heat it the rest of the way
Edit 2: and I guess, there is my answer
My boiler usually doesn’t get that low on heat, that this would really make an impact, as it usually hotter than the waste heat
Still, I think, there should be a way to gather the waste heat somehow
You’d need a custom rig to do that, the exact hardware probably doesn’t exist. Maybe someone has instructions for a similar DIY project out there.
I’m not gonna dissuade you from tinkering because maybe you’ll invent something cool. There might be a better way to reuse the heat from a freezer or a fridge or an A/C, even if it’s not to boil your water heater.
Maybe it could keep your plants warm in the winter, or heat your toilet seat, or your aquarium, reptile habitat, or hamster tank. Maybe it could warm up some blankets, our some pouches of sand or pebbles that you can put under your blankets. Maybe warm an incubator or a humidor or a dehydrator. The world is your oyster.