this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] AnarchoEngineer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 275 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

Resistive heaters still suck though because Heat pumps give you 200-400% efficiency. So heating wise, “100%” still less than maximally efficient.

(Not a violation of thermodynamics btw. Heat pumps use electricity to move heat energy that already exists, so the electric power in is often significantly smaller than the heat coming out of the device)

[–] wander1236@sh.itjust.works 412 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)
[–] BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 166 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

I'm so happy this man nerded out about heat pumps for a few hours.

But now, all I see is inferior heaters.

[–] rockSlayer@lemmy.blahaj.zone 70 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] M137@lemmy.today 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Having been on long term sick leave for 15 years means you have to do something with your time and I spend a lot of it learning new things to various depths. I now understand why some (though not all) older people are angry: when you know a lot about a lot you see how bad many things are. There's so much inefficiency, shit design, shit quality, shit shit everywhere. It hard to not let it get to you.

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

And as things degrade you remember how it was.

[–] W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 29 points 2 weeks ago

And this one is….. 1600 watts. Surely this “large” room heater will be……. Siiiixxxxteen hundred watts.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 24 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Who is that? I love heat pumps too and would happily listen to someone talk about them for hours

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 48 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

boy are you one of today's lucky 10,000!

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 35 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Search YouTube or revanced or whatever other free service for Technology connections, also the alt channel Technology Connextras.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago

I watched his video on renewable energy and it was awesome. That ending was very unexpected but he killed it. Thanks for the info

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 16 points 2 weeks ago
[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 21 points 2 weeks ago

This man managed to make a 30 minute video about door stoppers that I watched to the end

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] cenzorrll@piefed.ca 44 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Bro's got multiple, hour+ long, videos about various types of heat pumps.

[–] YellowParenti@lemmy.wtf 28 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

And somehow im riveted. Doesn't feel like droning on. I wish I could communicate like him.

[–] Holytimes@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 weeks ago

The amazing ability of a Midwestern to talk about the most mundane shit for hours and not lose you is a magic super power.

[–] Orygin@sh.itjust.works 25 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Hours of videos about dishwashers too

He videoed about dishwashers so hard he's got his own line of dish detergent now.

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 13 points 2 weeks ago

I'm so happy he's become an internet phenomenon that warrants reaction images now lol

[–] UninvestedCuriosity@lemmy.world 22 points 2 weeks ago

This man taught us that heaters are indeed about as efficient as you can get in turning energy into heat through a little thing called resistance.

[–] Custard@lemmy.world 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Hey that's the guy I see once a year at Christmas time!

[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] ViperActual@sh.itjust.works 16 points 2 weeks ago

No he'll be criticizing your choice of Christmas string lights, or lack thereof.

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 2 weeks ago

His videos are why I got a heat pump water heater instead of a standard one when mine died. I figure in summer I can hook the exhaust duct up to my hvac and get a bit of free air conditioning out of it, since I don't have AC yet. Tiny extra bonus piped straight to my bedroom.

[–] mceldritch@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

I came here to see a picture of this man.

[–] humble_boatsman@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] LetThereBeNick@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 weeks ago

TechnologyConnections yt channel. I see his video on dishwashers mentioned a lot.

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 71 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Resistive heaters still suck though

  • Resistive heaters are much more portable and flexible. (edit: and quiet)
  • Resistive heaters are a viable backup when heat pumps fail in extremely cold weather.
  • Resistive heaters are less money upfront for if you only have to use them occasionally.

One is not directly beneath the other. Both have their place.

[–] AnarchoEngineer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Fair enough, do we need to extend this heater solidarity to combustibles as well?

I mean technically they’re infinitely electrically efficient if you don’t use electricity to start them lol

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 21 points 2 weeks ago

For niche cases like when you're on a camping trip and made a campfire

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 17 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

They're not 100% either, they make noises and emit light. That's loss

[–] AnarchoEngineer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 2 weeks ago

well considering everything over 0K emits light I guess there really is no 100% efficient electric machine

[–] _stranger_@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

And that light? Albert Einstein.

[–] outerspace@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

No, but you can use some forms of "light" to heat things

If you want confusing specifics, light has negative absolute temperature

[–] captcha@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yeah, that is a bit confusing, i never thought about light being an example of one of those systems. Edit: looks like this applies only to laser light because light has a temperature of an emitting body, and lazing body has negative temperature

my short interpretation would be like this

A system with negative thermodynamic temperature is hotter than any system with a positive temperature. If a negative-temperature system and a positive-temperature system come in contact, heat will flow from the negative- to the positive-temperature system.

This situation occurs because temperature is not really a measure of speed of particles, but rather a measure of entropy, and for ordinary objects entropy can increase infinitely, increasing temperature too. For systems with capped amount of states entropy reduces when energy is added, and that is negative thermodynamic temperature.

So negative temperature is more energetic than positive, and because of that it heats up positive temperature object when in contact.

Light kinda does that, but I am not sure I can come up with an explanation of how to measure its temperature and if it fits the definition

[–] SpongyAneurysm@feddit.org 16 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Strictly speaking that's not efficiency, but a coefficient of performance.

And funny enough the work energy doesn't even have to be electricity. It's actually mechanical energy, that is required and you could even power a heat pump with a steam or diesel engine.

[–] TwilightKiddy@programming.dev 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

God I spent too much time arguing with people who say that heat pumps are >100% efficient...