# heater idea



## NintendoKD (Apr 29, 2012)

need a way to run your heater, don't live in sunny Cali, or the desert??
check this out



I think that this is a very interesting idea, not because of the issue of the current dropping, but because of how lenz's law is working here. This is very interesting in many ways, I could heat the water in my pipes in my motor home using this method , on demand, no tank necessary. I imagine, with the correct setup, steam could be produced as well. only problem is with this gentleman's design, the neos would heat up and de-magnetize, I bet there is a way to keep them cool and still make this concept work. It's kinda like the reverse of an induction heater.


----------



## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

There is a lot of relevant info missing from that video.

First and foremost, he drew 12.1 amps at 203 volts for nearly 2,500 watts. How, then, is this any better than simple resistance heating? Or is it simply for the novelty?

Second, the measure of the tube temp rise doesn't tell us if that heating was uniform, or only at certain points on the tubing. Temperature rise for a known volume of water would have been a far more useful piece of data to decide if it has any advantage over a simple immersion heater.

Third - if, as I suspect, the energy transfer is similar to resistance, then this is simply a curiosity.


----------



## EVEngineeer (Apr 11, 2012)

I must be missing something, because he showed that it was 350 degrees, but he didn't say if it was F or C or K. Ok obviously not K, haha. How was he able to touch the metal pipe without being burned?


----------



## PStechPaul (May 1, 2012)

You can just get a tankless "on demand" water heater:
http://tanklesswaterheaterguide.com/

http://youtu.be/_WbDUpk75vs

It will produce heat more efficiently than the "mechanical induction heater" as shown in the video. The motor will generate heat on its own that is not coupled to the copper tubing. A small single phase motor like that is probably no more than 70% efficient, and it also has considerable power factor, so the 12 amps at 120V will not be 1440 watts, but rather 1440 VA. It's something like 1/2 HP which would be 375 watts or about 3.5 amps at normal load, but it was overloaded in this case so it would have been even less efficient and eventually would overheat, with none of that heat transferring to the water in the copper tubing.

It's really just a demonstration of Lenz's Law as stated, but does not appear to have any practical benefit. If you just want to get heat from mechanical energy, by connecting the shaft to a windmill or water turbine, it will work, but you could also use a friction brake. 

For electric power, a resistance heater is close to 100% efficient, but if you factor in the inefficiencies of the grid, it's considerably less. For a car heater, you might consider propane or kerosene, or adding copper coils for cooling the motor, controller, and perhaps even the batteries, and recirculating the water through a heat exchanger like a standard hydronic baseboard heater. If you're really clever, you could use an air conditioning unit as a heat pump, and get the added benefit of A/C as well as heat.
http://youtu.be/hQv9bzyw0u4


----------



## mizlplix (May 1, 2011)

Your motor or controller does not put out the volume of heat it takes to heat your cabin adequately. I measured the coolant exiting my controller and found it to be pitifully lacking of heat in the volume required by my car cabin. (Been tried)

I tried exhausting the motor cooling air directly to the heater plenum. It would not even defrost the window.

The best "free" source of heat I ever found was from my brakes. But you would need to construct an air to air heat exchanger. Maybe two, one in the trunk area, one in the engine bay area.(keeping the ducts insulated and short.

Even then it would not be truly free as you would need a blower at all 4 wheels to keep the air circulating. But this heat source has some promise as a source of pure raw wasted heat.



(Now, I do live in Ariz. where it freezes maybe twice per year, But the windows DO fog up and makes driving dangerous.}

After years of trying to "bodge" togather some type of heater, and even using a propane torch held in my lap....LOL, I have found the most cost effective unit in existence. It is designed to do that exact job, heat air.....No extra parts to buy, no systems to install or keep patched up and going. Direct heated air, placed where you need it.

I just installed a plain old extension cord, by cutting off the prong end. Direct wire it to an A/C relay, hooked to pack voltage, (hooked to the original heater switch in the dash). Then secretly "borrowed" my Wife's hand held hair dryer and plugged it in. It puts out LOTS of hot air, It is rated at 1,650 Watts. More than most ceramic plate heaters.

I used a hole saw in the fiberglass box in 2 places, One for the defroster vents and one for the foot box area. A little silicone and a metal strap and it is done, plug it in. 

1. Do the above.
2. Park over night inside a structure.
3. Place a 120VAC extension cord and portable heater inside the car for the night. Just throw it out before driving. (Better yet, incorporate it into your car and run it automatically when charger is plugged in.)

You start with a warm car. You circulate the cabin air where it is needed and you are introducing more heat as you go.

It will be difficult to find a cheaper, more efficient system than a direct electricity to heat conversion.

My .02$

Miz


----------

