this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2024
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Showerthoughts

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If a machine is never 100% efficient transforming energy into work because part of the energy is converted into heat, does it mean an electric heater is 100% efficient? [@showerthoughts@lemmy.world](h (social.graves.cl)
submitted 9 months ago by alvaro@social.graves.cl to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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If a machine is never 100% efficient transforming energy into work because part of the energy is converted into heat, does it mean an electric heater is 100% efficient? @showerthoughts@lemmy.world

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[–] fubbernuckin@lemmy.world 42 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I mean if you want to go that route, we could just say that every speaker, light source, motor, etc is 100% efficient at generating heat because all of its energy output will eventually become heat.

[–] xigoi@lemmy.sdf.org 42 points 9 months ago (2 children)

That is also completely true, but meaningless because heat generation is not the purpose of these devices. However, if you use them in a building heated by a thermostat-controlled electric heater, you’re effectivhly running them for free.

[–] Xatix@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

I‘m was using two old servers with folding@home running as space heaters in the winter. I got them for dirt cheap and thought if I convert electricity into heat, I might as well do something good with it. Also nice opportunity to run a minecraft server for the kids during that time.

[–] Xatix@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I‘m was using two old servers with folding@home running as space heaters in the winter. I got them for dirt cheap and thought if I convert electricity into heat, I might as well do something good with it. Also nice opportunity to run a minecraft server for the kids during that time.

[–] entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

You double-posted this comment, FYI

[–] Techranger@infosec.pub 8 points 8 months ago

One for each server.

[–] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 7 points 8 months ago

It's still efficient because both those comments will end up as heat anyway.

[–] PeterPoopshit@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed so in the grand scheme of things, everything is 100% energy efficient one way or another.

[–] vynlwombat@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

I suggest we submit proposals to define "100%" and "efficient" before we design the experiment