Using the waste heat - does anyone do it?

[lol4fun]

thats true but i often turn my computer on and then go downstairs and watch tv infront of the fire for an hour or 2 and then when i come back upstairs i have a nice and toasty room my dad not too happy about my computer draining so much power because the electricity bill is huge lol

 

[DrGadget]

Here's a thought. Why bother converting the heat into steam power or some of the other exotic ideas people have offered? It's already heat. Keep it heat. Converting one form of energy to another invites inefficiency.

Hook up the radiator fins to the cold water input to your water heater. This will heat up the water coming in, which in turn will reduce the amount of energy used heating water.

Let it be what it is.

 

[john_thor]

Good idea!

 

[Ningenpo]

If you are gaming, not only your computer puts out a load of heat, but you would be too.

Someone gaming, not resting but not doing anything to demanding, will convert oxygen in the body and the excess will be about 200W worth of heat.

So, if you start doing push ups and running laps, then perhaps you could turn your radiator off, and perhaps mounting a heatpipe from yourself to the swimingpool...

------

Here's the constructive serious idea to the creator the thread.

Haven't your mother ever had the great idea that the tv could serve as a nice pidestal for pots with flowers, watering them --> burning the Tv?

Mine have... Twice...

But if you're serious then why don't you build or convert another big tower case into a greenhouse, mount the rad to the side and connecting with the other case. See my picture.

Good Luck!

 

[john_thor]

Not a bad idea at all. I think you are right about the plant watering danger. However, some of my orchids are too big to fit into a case easily, even a full tower (it's too thin). Instead I am thinking of placing a large rad into a tray of water, that I mount as a shelf, with the pots on top of that. Therefore, if the pots leak, they drain into the water tray. The downside is that the comp is now connected to the tray, and not as portable without fitting some cut off valves.

 

[Ningenpo]

However, some of my orchids are too big to fit into a case easily, even a full tower (it's too thin). Instead I am thinking of placing a large rad into a tray of water, that I mount as a shelf, with the pots on top of that. Therefore, if the pots leak, they drain into the water tray. The downside is that the comp is now connected to the tray, and not as portable without fitting some cut off valves.

Ok, that's an approach. (I think your solution would be cool looking, but not so cool when you have to clean the rad from dust, dirt and soil.)

I have some gardener skills, and my experience say that what you need for the orchids are heat and humidity.

For your computer you need chill and dry, witch you achieve using watercooling. (unless something starts to leak).

But when it comes to the orchid. You really don't want all that evaporated water in the same room as your computer. It will start to condensate as soon as something gets cool, probably also inside your computer. So my recomendation is to (in the case of not large enough case), build your own greenhouse, using plexi or similar. It wont be that hard, then use a pretty sealed system, air out low.

As long as you have a roof and not to large exhaust holes, then the water will condense and stay inside the box. You calculate the humidity water / m3. So it will be easier to have less m3 to humidify (new word perhaps).

And using some sort of tunnel into the box leading the hot air.

Then you both have hot air and humidity. If you have a greenhouse you won't need to arrange special evaporation devices, the stickyness of the air will take care of that. Also, you should build some kind of hatch incase the temp inside the greenhouse gets to high

Good Luck!

 

[john_thor]

Nice - I'll see what happens.

Thanks for the ideas...! 8)

 

[kittle]

you guys go too far sometimes.

2 PCs + stereo -- they heat my apt just fine