[NCLUG] Re: "Green" power

[John L. Bass]

Matt Taggart wrote:
>> On Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 2:43 AM, Sean Reifschneider <jafo at tummy.com> wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> You're also forgetting that at least half the year we need heating around
>>> here, and a computer that is running F at H is almost 100% efficient at
>>> converting electricity into heat.  That's heat that your furnace doesn't
>>> need to generate.  So half the year it probably doesn't make sense even
>>> from a conservation standpoint.
>>>       
>> I would seriously encourage you to get a new power supply. Mine only
>> converts abut 15% to heat with the rest being used to power the computer. :)
>>     
>
> .... which then goes to heat. (that's what that big heat sink is for)
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_energy
>
> or maybe you were making a joke?
>
>   
I don't think it was a joke, but rather a very poor understanding of the 
environmental effects. Resistive electric heat is VERY inefficient, in 
that a heat pump using the same amount of electricity will provide 
several times the amount of heat into the building. Computers are just 
another resistive heat source, like a portable heater, or baseboard 
heater ... all of which cost several times what a heat pump costs for 
heating.

The "clean" electric heat, isn't clean ... read my other post about how 
dirty coal plants are, which the the most common electric generation 
source in this area.

Consider that many folks run the distributed computing clients during 
the summer months with their air conditioning active ... making the 
environmental costs of these desk top systems several times worse when 
you add the extra energy for cooling a home, business, or machine room.

John