Thermoelectric Airconditioning

[rvanengen]

I posted a similar question to the main FE discussion, and maybe it belongs here....

Couldn't one put a peltier (or an array) in the engine compartment of their car (near the exhaust) to generate electricty? Then take this electricity and run it into the passenger compartment to another peltier (array?) that is setup for cooling?

Kinda like an solid state heatpump? :-) If it would work, people w/o AC could get it w/o any drag, and if you are not using the cooling, you could just divert the electricity to the battery. Heck, if you had enough heat, you could run the cars inside blower motor, and keep the car cool, even when the engine isn't running.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

if you search this forum, it's already been talked about, my figures from a year or so ago came to $2,500 for a 300 watt unit when I did some price checking, about twice the cost of PV (solar electric) and here is a link to a page on this site about electrical loads on my car http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=3246
so you can get an idea of what kind of power you are drawing.
now of course peltiar junctions are not as efficent as a heat pump from what I understand, they are just compact, and solid state, so they can be used in much smaller devices.

[rvanengen]

Originally Posted by Ryland

if you search this forum, it's already been talked about, my figures from a year or so ago came to $2,500 for a 300 watt unit when I did some price checking, about twice the cost of PV (solar electric) and here is a link to a page on this site about electrical loads on my car http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=3246
so you can get an idea of what kind of power you are drawing.
now of course peltiar junctions are not as efficent as a heat pump from what I understand, they are just compact, and solid state, so they can be used in much smaller devices.

They must have come down quite a bit....here is one from:
http://customthermoelectric.com/tecs...FSBMGgodmiU0tQ

24.0A / 226.1W /15.2V @ 60C temp differential for $39.95.

I am new to them...but it seems like there is the potential for some nice cooling.

[JanGeo]

hummm gets me thinking a solar power cooler for the car to offset the sunny days heat to keep ones water bottles cool. Those are priced very well - my buddies boat refrigeration system just rotted away (dissimular metals) and they are talking 5-6k to replace it.

[rvanengen]

Originally Posted by JanGeo

hummm gets me thinking a solar power cooler for the car to offset the sunny days heat to keep ones water bottles cool. Those are priced very well - my buddies boat refrigeration system just rotted away (dissimular metals) and they are talking 5-6k to replace it.

Yow!! I knew boats were expensive...but that is just wrong.

[JanGeo]

yeah well it is air cooled condenser and remote compressor stashed under the kitchen sink but yeah really over priced. Turns out a few bucks of ice will last 4 days and keep everything cool but yeah really over priced.