Reply To: A Big Prick in the Balloon of the Big Bang

[Brian H]

zapkitty wrote: errrrrrrrr… it seems to me that the question relies upon the actual efficiency of the default FF conversion method… the onion.

If the onion proves to be more economical than any given thermoelectric solution then thermoelectric solutions can never catch up, right?

And if a thermoelectric solution can economically make use of even the leftover heat from the onion then that solution theoretically can just replace the onion, right?

Or is this all just a rehash of Aeronaut’s meme that an FF without an onion or thermoelectric solution still has a future as a replacement for other heat sources?

Unless FF is over unity, it is using more energy than it produces, and is just a complicated resistance heater. Who needs it? If it is over unity, see above. The cost of installing and operating any added heat recovery gear must work out to be equal to or less than using power from another FF to generate the heat. No such technology exists, which is why FF is such an economic breakthrough.