Thanks B.L.E for that analysis.
So it looks like the efficiency of a heat pump to raise the temperature 30F is independent of the starting temperature, be it 50f or -40*. I wonder if that continues to hold as you approach absolute zero. I’ll see if I still have my thermodynamics books.
Thanks again.
No, actually it’s not independent of the starting temperature. If it was, we wouldn’t have to use an absolute temperature scale in our calculations, we could just use temperature rise.
Minus 200 to minus 170, 10.4% of the output heat is input energy.
Zero to plus 30, 6.7% of the output heat is input energy.
Well, shadowfax beat me to it.
The area immediately surrounding the heater would be warmer but would it have any appreciable effect on the overall problem, no.
When you’re brainstorming and the idea you come up with isn’t going to realistically work, you can expect others to weigh in saying so. If you don’t want anything but praise for your suggestion, then maybe this isn’t the best forum.
If I had a solution that would solve all of these problems I would already have a patent on it and be relaxing by the shore of some tropical island, as far away from needing a block heater as possible…
Was I out of line? Perhaps I overreacted to your crude analogy.