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Nano-engineered thermoelectrics enable scalable, compressor-free cooling

(www.jhuapl.edu)
119 points mcswell | 3 comments | 30 Jun 25 14:51 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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Spivak ◴[03 Jul 25 02:25 UTC] No.44451035[source]▶
So it's a better Peltier element? The article only seems to compare it to existing thermoelectric devices and not standard refrigeration units so I'm going to assume they haven't gotten even close to that efficiency. If they had I would assume they wouldn't shut up about the fact.

Also one of the biggest if not the biggest downside of these chips is, unlike a split refrigeration circuit, the front gets cold while the back gets hot which means you can't move the heat very far.

replies(2): >>44451302 #>>44451443 #
porphyra ◴[03 Jul 25 03:14 UTC] No.44451302[source]▶
One step at a time... it would be astonishing if any thermoelectric device can leapfrog mechanical compressors.
replies(1): >>44451766 #
1. adrian_b ◴[03 Jul 25 05:00 UTC] No.44451766[source]▶
Also in the article, it is implied that there is no chance to replace mechanical compressors for great thermal powers, but for small thermal powers, from a few watt to a few hundred watt, thermoelectric devices may become preferable, due to small size, simplicity and reliability
replies(1): >>44451852 #
2. markhahn ◴[03 Jul 25 05:15 UTC] No.44451852[source]▶
just noting that household fridge/freezers are in that power range...
replies(1): >>44452778 #
3. nandomrumber ◴[03 Jul 25 08:12 UTC] No.44452778[source]▶
Yeah but, household freezers are typically capable of freezing many tens of kilograms of material down to -18 to -24 degrees C / 0 to -10 F

Peltier coolers aren’t anywhere near this.