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.

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porphyra 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

One step at a time... it would be astonishing if any thermoelectric device can leapfrog mechanical compressors.

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adrian_b 2 days ago | parent [-]

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

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markhahn 2 days ago | parent [-]

just noting that household fridge/freezers are in that power range...

	▲	nandomrumber a day ago \| parent [-]
		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.

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speed_spread 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

> can't move the heat very far.

Heat pipes (as in CPU heatsinks) can passively move the heat up to a feet away. Far enough to allow effective insulation between cold and hot side. From there you can move the heat further away with a fan.

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adrian_b 2 days ago | parent [-]

Heat pipes only reduce the thermal resistance between 2 points. They cannot cool something below ambient temperature.

Thermoelectric coolers do not compete with heat pipes. They are useful only when you want to obtain a temperature lower than the ambient temperature. Otherwise, heat pipes or liquid flow cooling are the right solutions.

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scotty79 a day ago | parent | next [-]

You could have heat pipe filled with liquid that evaporates at 5 degrees. This way it would draw heat from ambient level temperature and lead it to peltier device that would cool it below 5 deg and liquefy it back again. This way you could have peltier in the middle of your thick insulation layer with heat pipes drawing the heat into it from the cooled space and drawing the heat from the other side of it outside (using traditional heat pipes this time).

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nandomrumber a day ago | parent [-]

I think you may have just reinvented absorption refrigeration, previously invented by Ferdinand Carré in 1858.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator

	▲	scotty79 a day ago \| parent [-]
		Not really. The role of heatpipes is not to cool, just to transfer heat to and away from peltier device so it's easier to insulate hot and cold side.

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speed_spread a day ago | parent | prev [-]

I was suggesting combining Peltier element _and_ heat pipes.