> active cooling phone holders

Things I'd never think would exist much less that I would think of actual occasion for utility: my phone was in the sun (windshield), charging and performing wayfinding, resulting in "phone too hot" errors.

On the whole however, can someone explain how efficiency can be over 100%, if 100% represents conversion of inputs into all work and no entropy?

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sandworm101 8 hours ago | parent [-]

A 100w space heater will produce exactly 100w of heat. A 100w heat pump, properly installed, may turn that 100w of power into 300w of heat output on the hot side. This >100% language is marketing for people who do not understand thermodynamics or who dont want to bother with specifics.

The same is said of those scam "personal" AC devices that blow air over ice. They too are "more than 100% efficient".

	▲	hkt 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> This >100% language is marketing for people who do not understand thermodynamics or who dont want to bother with specifics. That is a little unfair: this is the language of economics rather than physics, so if you are paying for 100w and getting 300w, that is indeed over 100% efficient. SCOP is a more "correct" term but is less clear when communicating with the public and (IMO) is mostly for professionals or people with a technical understanding of heat pumps. Nobody thinks they defy the laws of physics though.