Whirlpool's green kitchen concept fuels other devices

This whole "turning waste into fuel" idea has certainly gained a lot of traction lately, and it seems that Whirlpool is next in line to show off a concept that could purportedly hack down your energy bill (and give Mother Earth some love, too). Simply hailed as the green kitchen, this futuristic area would reportedly enable "60-percent of the water and heat generated from [kitchen gizmos to be] diverted to fuel other appliances." For instance, the heat created from the refrigerator compressor could be used to heat water for the dishwasher, and while it's hard to say how accurate it is, word on the street pegs energy savings from using said concept at around 24-percent. The real question, however, is will it come equipped with an integrated LCD TV?

[ryangohabs @ Mar 15th 2008 1:50PM]

WIth only 3 easy payments of an arm and a leg!

[arsonata @ Mar 15th 2008 5:25PM]

From whom do you get the third payment?

[dj-kenpo @ Mar 15th 2008 5:34PM]

ya. I'd wonder if the energy savings help cover the repair bill.

one of the worst ideas is in combining different electornics/appliances. then if one breaks, they're all broken, and it's always more expensive to fix.
I'm all for energy efficiency but in a logical manner.

there was already a refrigerator developed that uses a subwoofer contraption to cool the unit down. a subwoofer man. ben and jerrys ice cream even demoed the unit. it was genius.

there are better ways of doing things that companies like whirlpool are just suppressing, not helping.

[Ayman @ Mar 15th 2008 6:45PM]

It took them over 50 years to realize to use the heat of the refrigerator to heat the water!!! Amazing, wonder if they would do what Japs did acouple of years back they made a washing machine that after it finishes in washing the water is used to flush the toilet.(Smart and takes less space)

[Thunderbuck @ Mar 15th 2008 1:50PM]

This is an encouraging concept, and one I'd really like to see pursued. The fact is there are probably a lot of different things waste heat can be put to use for in a home (perhaps a cpu heat-pipe that helps heat incoming water?).

There is a LOT of energy in the world that just normally burns off into the surrounding atmosphere. I personally believe that a major component of global warming is sheer waste heat from homes, cars, and industry. If this heat could be harnessed, it could reduce atmospheric heating AND reduce energy needs.

[RikF @ Mar 15th 2008 2:09PM]

You really believe that the wasted heat from machinery etc. is a contributing factor when compared to the sun?

[Charles @ Mar 15th 2008 2:54PM]

Doing a quick search I see that the sun output 386 billion billion megawatts of energy. While not all of it ends on earth it shows what little different recycling the heat in your kitchen will make.

I'm all for saving energy (and thus money) and if they called this an "energy efficient kitchen" I'd be interested. However, everything has to be called green these days and it's getting rather irritating to the point where it's a turn off. Has anyone seen those Crucial adverts telling you to upgrade your memory because it's greener than buying a new PC? Literally everything is being called green and it's getting silly.

[Thunderbuck @ Mar 15th 2008 3:56PM]

I'll admit, I'm not an engineer, much less an expert in thermodynamics, but I don't think it takes a genius to see that we have a great many more industrial processes that pump heat into the atmosphere. You would think that this heat must somehow make the atmosphere warmer than it would have been otherwise.

Since that heat really represents energy, wouldn't it stand to reason that there'd be some benefit from rendering that energy useful?

[John @ Mar 15th 2008 5:25PM]

You're right, Charles, sustainability is such a turn off! Who cares about the environment? "Going green" has to be the worst fad ever! I mean, what happened to fur coats being popular? Now we're busy worrying about the very thing that keeps us alive? Ridiculous.


Also, Thunderbuck, it's the CO2 from the factories along with the sun's heat that causes the greenhouse effect, not the heat produced from burning fuels. Regardless, this is a great idea as it will ultimately lead to less energy consumption. Not to mention it looks absolutely sexual.

[Rikko @ Mar 17th 2008 12:17PM]

@RikF: Actually, yes. You don't realize it because you're saturated with it, but North American technology is so embarrassingly in the dark ages that it's no wonder we can't get back to the moon.
Case in point: a hot water heater. Seriously, think about it. A HUGE canister dedicated to keeping a reservoir of 60 gallons or so piping hot. All day long. Just in case you need hot water at any time. And for the 23 hours a day you AREN'T using hot water, that tank is just slowly leeching its heat out into the environment as waste.
The Europeans solved this years ago with Water On Demand. We're FINALLY seeing some adoption of these water heating systems (for those who don't know them, they are essentially a very small wall-mounted unit that heats incoming cold water AS NEEDED and doesn't keep it in reserve) - it was only a few years ago that Home Depot started stocking them.

I do have a good supporting example of the waste energy being useful, as well. Shortly before I was born, my dad built a water reclamation tank in basement of the house. It was basically a dishwasher-sized aluminum tank. Sewer water from all the bathtubs and sinks (minus kitchen sink which typically has far too much food waste in it) flows into this tank (and drains via an overflow into the sewer proper). The incoming cold water that's destined for the hot water heater travels through 40' of coiled copper piping inside this tank - essentially it pre-warms the water to be heated by the hot water tank. He went to great pains to chart the performance of the tank (and some tuning) and the energy savings netted a 25% reduction in gas needed by the water heater. That's substantial and requires NO energy and some minor maintenance (read: cleaning and seal inspection) every 5 years or so.

There are so many wasteful things we do that we can't see past as we look for alternative energy. Like with all things, the answer lies in between - we don't NEED a source of green energy to replace all of our energy consumption, because we don't NEED all the energy we're using. A hybrid of energy replacement coupled with a smart reduction of energy usage (which cannot mean a reduction in quality of life to get there) will get us so much closer.

[Noah @ Mar 15th 2008 1:50PM]

Yay, I always wanted a micro-CHP in my kitchen.

[empty @ Mar 15th 2008 1:51PM]

Finally some joined up thinking with appliances, its always irritated me that they build kitchens often with the fridge next to the cooker, like that's efficient. . . well maybe now it will be.

[BatteryAcid @ Mar 15th 2008 1:52PM]

This is amazing. I've been saying someone should do this for years. It could server even better if it were to be integrated into an earth ship (really efficient homes made of recycled materials - google or youtube them their real interesting).

[chickenrob @ Mar 15th 2008 1:59PM]

of course in minnesota where I live, 8 mos out of the year the heat is not wasted, it is used to heat my house.

[BatteryAcid @ Mar 15th 2008 2:14PM]

Where i live this is also true, but there are many cheaper heating methods. Plus in many places this is not the case.

[Yoyodyn @ Mar 15th 2008 2:56PM]

Also in the northern climates they should pipe in the cold from the outside when the temperature drops below 40. Why use electricity to heat your entire house, then use more electricity to cool one little box back down, to what the temperature is outside anyway.

[Peter @ Mar 15th 2008 3:47PM]

Yoyodyn - That's sort of what we do in our server room over the winter. Instead of running the A/C we suck in outside air. Once the temp drops below 40 or so it works great. Then we add a little heat overnight to stop it from getting absurdly cold in there.
Works great and saves a ton of energy.

[Thunderbuck @ Mar 15th 2008 4:00PM]

@Peter

That sounds like a great idea! I've wondered myself if there was a benefit from doing that.

I'm in Northern Canada, and a technique that's frequently used here is to draw fresh air into a home and pass it through a heat exchanger from the furnace exhaust, preheating the intake and ultimately reducing the load on the furnace.

[Niralisherni @ Mar 16th 2008 1:08AM]

The concept of turning waste into fuel is a great one! That way you get rid of of waste in the best way possible and you have the added advantage of turning it into fuel. Win Win! This is the sort of technology that big companies should be looking to foster.

- http://www.zapworld.com