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0 pointsquickthrower27y ago0 comments

Very inefficient though. But solid!

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6 comments · 2 top-level

sliken7y ago· 2 in thread

Actually it's 100% efficient in terms of converting electricity into heat. Anything that consumes electricity is near 100% efficient at generating heat. If you tried really hard you could build a very efficient laser and send heat outside the room, so not 100% would end up in the room. Even then the majority of heat will be dissipated in the room.

quickthrower2OP7y ago

It’s 100% efficient, but you can do better than the 100% without breaking thermodynamic Laws with a heat pump.

sliken7y ago

Right, but it was being compared to a space heater, not a heat pump.

Not to mention heat pumps require somewhere to pump to/from, you can't just put one in your basement, plug it into the wall, and heat up the basement. Also heat pumps work best with mild differences, like say 40F inside and 60F inside if you want to heat.

Heat pumps reduce to space heater efficiency if it's sub-zero Fahrenheit outside I believe.

1 more reply

dx0347y ago· 2 in thread

Is it inefficient? Some of the energy will be converted to light, but all the rest should be converted to heat? If you need constant heating and use electricity for heating, wouldn't a mainframe be as efficient as any other heating?

Tor37y ago

It would. Unless you could replace the electric heating with a heatpump though - then you would get more heat out of each kW you put in. But replacing an old-fashioned electric wall heater with a 1700 W mainframe would be totally equivalent. So no, a 1700 W computer isn't more 'inefficient' than a wall heater of the same wattage. The light is neglible and it too ends up as heat anyway.

sliken7y ago

Heh, exactly. Even the light will quickly be turned into heat once it hits something. Sure some might escape through a window, but that's going to be vanishingly small amount of the total energy.

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0 comments

6 comments · 2 top-level

sliken7y ago· 2 in thread

Actually it's 100% efficient in terms of converting electricity into heat. Anything that consumes electricity is near 100% efficient at generating heat. If you tried really hard you could build a very efficient laser and send heat outside the room, so not 100% would end up in the room. Even then the majority of heat will be dissipated in the room.

quickthrower2OP7y ago

It’s 100% efficient, but you can do better than the 100% without breaking thermodynamic Laws with a heat pump.

sliken7y ago

Right, but it was being compared to a space heater, not a heat pump.

Not to mention heat pumps require somewhere to pump to/from, you can't just put one in your basement, plug it into the wall, and heat up the basement. Also heat pumps work best with mild differences, like say 40F inside and 60F inside if you want to heat.

Heat pumps reduce to space heater efficiency if it's sub-zero Fahrenheit outside I believe.

1 more reply

dx0347y ago· 2 in thread

Is it inefficient? Some of the energy will be converted to light, but all the rest should be converted to heat? If you need constant heating and use electricity for heating, wouldn't a mainframe be as efficient as any other heating?

Tor37y ago

It would. Unless you could replace the electric heating with a heatpump though - then you would get more heat out of each kW you put in. But replacing an old-fashioned electric wall heater with a 1700 W mainframe would be totally equivalent. So no, a 1700 W computer isn't more 'inefficient' than a wall heater of the same wattage. The light is neglible and it too ends up as heat anyway.

sliken7y ago

Heh, exactly. Even the light will quickly be turned into heat once it hits something. Sure some might escape through a window, but that's going to be vanishingly small amount of the total energy.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse