tom_stalcup
Lifetime Supporting Member
Hey folks... I was thinking about starting a home project, and figured I'd ask if anyone here had any experience with these items.
I play a lot of computer games.... For 6-10 hours at a stretch sometimes. Between the graphics card and the processor, my computer at home puts out a LOT of heat. In the wintertime, I don't need to keep my shoes on to keep my feet warm.(a nice touch)
Since I'm already producing the heat, I wanted to try to add something to USE that heat(and the air from the vent fans) to run an additional fan at the intake of my computer. I'm not looking for anything horribly cost efficient to make, as long as it's energy efficient in the long run. This is going to be a learning project more than anything else.
I've been digging around on Google for the last few days, and reading up on the various sites that are out there.
It appear that most stirling engines are designed to run a higher delta-Temp than I'm going to get out of my computer tho....
THIS site sells a small model that runs from a relatively low delta-Temp (4 degree c), but the only thing it has to do is keep the wheel turning. I'm really not sure it would be able to do enough work to actually move any air, and I don't know enough about the calculations involved to find out(but I'm working on it).
Has anyone played around with a small version of one of these?
How much work (realistically speaking) can you expect to get out of something like this with a differential temp of about 20 degrees?(for example... I haven't taken any measurements yet)
I play a lot of computer games.... For 6-10 hours at a stretch sometimes. Between the graphics card and the processor, my computer at home puts out a LOT of heat. In the wintertime, I don't need to keep my shoes on to keep my feet warm.(a nice touch)
Since I'm already producing the heat, I wanted to try to add something to USE that heat(and the air from the vent fans) to run an additional fan at the intake of my computer. I'm not looking for anything horribly cost efficient to make, as long as it's energy efficient in the long run. This is going to be a learning project more than anything else.
I've been digging around on Google for the last few days, and reading up on the various sites that are out there.
It appear that most stirling engines are designed to run a higher delta-Temp than I'm going to get out of my computer tho....
THIS site sells a small model that runs from a relatively low delta-Temp (4 degree c), but the only thing it has to do is keep the wheel turning. I'm really not sure it would be able to do enough work to actually move any air, and I don't know enough about the calculations involved to find out(but I'm working on it).
Has anyone played around with a small version of one of these?
How much work (realistically speaking) can you expect to get out of something like this with a differential temp of about 20 degrees?(for example... I haven't taken any measurements yet)