The Nerdalize heater, an innovative e-radiator drawing its power from large computer cooling systems, may turn out to be an affordable heating solution for residential and commercial customers, putting excess heat to good use.
Nerdalize’s Eneco eRadiator
According to the Dutch-based Nerdalize:
The Nerdalize heater contains high-performance servers in the form of a radiator and allows for them to be placed in your home safely and secure. As Nerdalize covers the cost of electricity, the heat generated by computations, such as medical research, heat your home for free.
Nerdalize was founded in 2013 by Boaz Leupe, Mathijs de Meijer, and Florian Schneider, who set the goal of creating a world where heating is free and sustainable computing power is an affordable commodity. Together with Eneco, one of the largest energy suppliers in the Netherlands, Nerdalize has rolled out its first heaters with a select group of their customers under the name Eneco eRadiator.
Field testing
Last March Eneco field-tested the product at five homes in the Netherlands. Eneco specialists have pointed out the one fact any data specialist knows: Working computer servers generate a significant amount of heat that requires cooling. By installing these servers in people’s homes instead of at large data centres, the generated heat can be used to heat field test homes at no cost. Eneco stated the purpose of the test was to collect information on customer experience and pinpoint needed improvements to the system.
These field tests marked the first time the radiator with built-in server had been installed in ordinary households. The servers were expected to perform complex calculations for a variety of companies and schools, including new medicine-related research for Leiden University Medical Centre. Eneco believes that the eRadiator offers a range of possibilities, and has acquired an interest in the start-up.
Large data centres often contain thousands of servers. To prevent these server stacks fom overheating, tech companies spend vast sums on cooling technology — more than a third of a data centre’s hefty energy bill is said to go on air conditioning. Data centers worldwide are estimated to account for 1.5% of global electricity consumption (2010 estimate). Capturing or redistributing such energy wastage can look like an immensely appealing business proposition.
A study carried out in cooperation with the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computing Science shows that companies and institutions that require a lot of processing power can reduce their costs in the area of accommodation and cooling of data centres by 30% to 55%. There are also environmental benefits, because the same energy is used for two different purposes: computing and heating.
It will take at the least to the end of the year to complete the initial field tests. Eneco and Nerdalize say they will use the results to determine how the eRadiator can be made available to a larger number of customers, and if it is a feasible product option.
Heating costs with eRadiator
Surprisingly, the cost of heating may run little to nothing for heating using an eRadiator. Referring to the Nerdalize Q & A section of its website, “The Heater measures how much energy it uses to heat your home and you’ll get fully reimbursed for the cost of this energy. This means that with our Heater you’re heating your home for free!”
How this works
According to company information, the Nerdalize heater contains high-performance servers in the form of a radiator and allows for them to be placed in your home safely and secure. As Nerdalize covers the cost of electricity, the heat generated by computations, such as medical research, people can heat their home for free.
Here’s to the future of free heat, reduced cooling expenses, and a cleaner environment!
Sources: Green Car Reports, BBC
Images via Nerdalizer and Eneco
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