Heat from data center used to warm Swiss swimming pool

Here's a novel idea: rather than stressing over the choice between solar or hydroelectric power sources to keep that green data center running, just build the thing near a community pool. Apparently that's exactly what's happening in Uitikon, Switzerland, as an IBM-built center erected for GIB-Services AG is using its excess heat to warm a local swimming pool. Put simply, the warmth emitted by the computers will be piped through a heat exchanger to boost the temperature of water used in the neighboring pool, and while the town had to cover some of the equipment costs to make it come together, it'll reap the oh-so-steamy benefits for free.

[Via FashionFunky, thanks Yash]

[Rafer @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:13PM]

And then you could cover the pool and use the steam to power a generator that is attached to the computer... If only.

[Jordan @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:17PM]

Another perpetual motion machine that works only if your not looking at it or filming it.

[darthpierce @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:23PM]

I know it's what the IBM article says too... but you can't use 2,800 Megawatts per year. The unit's don't work... it's probably 2,800 Megawatt-hours per year. (Which would be an average usage of 320,000 watts)

The unit mismatch is like saying you drive 65 miles per hour per year... it's only useful to say you drove a certain number of miles or drive at an average rate... watts/year as well as mph/year would actually represent accelerations, and are useful measures in different ways than most people think... (e.g. world energy consumption could be said to be increasing by so many watts/year or a spaceship might accelerate by so many MPH/year but you cant "use" or "move" in units of watts/year or mph/year)

Here's hoping the press release guy at IBM isn't tasked with any real work...

[looseinthedeuce @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:24PM]

Unlike the toilet-flush water-electric generator we saw on engadget a couple of weeks ago, that bleeds the smallest bit of "free" energy, this setup ACTUALLY makes thermodynamic sense.

[Brandon @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:25PM]

I've been doing that for years, heating up my room's air using my computer's heat, summer and winter.

[looseinthedeuce @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:36PM]

Yeah, but it's cheaper to run a gas furnace than electricity for heat (more BTUs per dollar). Also, more thermodynamically efficient. Hence, natural gas furnaces.

[Brandon @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:40PM]

Are you suggesting that IBM should stop the Data Center and just provide gas for community pool?

[DakStaka @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:32PM]

That's a great solution. The pool where I used to live in Hobart uses the heat in the sewerage pipes that pass nearby to heat the pool... sort of strange when your in the pool!

[a ham sandwich @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:36PM]

lol my xbox 360's been doing that too! damn things like a space heater :P

[NovaLand @ Apr 4th 2008 1:39AM]

We need to create a datacenter to calculate how much gas we need for heating up the pool!

[Sharakar @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:40PM]

My PC also doubles as an air filter, when my CPU's average temperature goes red from all the collected dust I know it's to vacuum it. I tell ya it's way more efficient than my Airconditioner

[Jordan @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:40PM]

Sorry to be irrelevant, but I'm testing to see if engadgets reply system works in this thread.

[NovaLand @ Apr 4th 2008 1:40AM]

Jorda: The reply system is really fucked-up here.. i'm sorry to tell ya.

[Jordan @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:41PM]

NOpe. not working.

[Reader @ Apr 3rd 2008 10:49PM]

Or is it? Muhaha

[Darkest Daze @ Apr 4th 2008 5:26AM]

Now that's not nice. He's going to go insane trying to figure out how to post a reply correctly.

[happy_penguin @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:46PM]

Are they using a data center to heat a pool or are they using a pool to cool a data center? Hmmmm....

[Darkest Daze @ Apr 4th 2008 5:30AM]

Didn't some guy use his pool to watercool his PC's? I'd suggest that they try to do that, but a small water leak in a data center would be a horrible, horrible nightmare for their IT staff.

[Steve A. @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:47PM]

"rather than stressing over the choice between solar or hydroelectric power sources to keep that green data center running"

Heating a swimming pool is a neat idea, but I actually do power my servers with solar power. No really. I also put in ductwork to suck hot air out of the server room and pump it to the entrances of the building during the winter, to help keep the cold out of the office. Saves my company a couple thousand a year in electricity for the servers and a dedicated AC unit.

http://www.jbdg.com/solar.html

[Ron @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:48PM]

While, it is true that natural gas provides a btu of heat for less money than electricity. The benefit here is that IBM is using the Electricity anyway and has heat created as a byproduct. Using this system IBM saves money and energy on air conditioning and the pool saves money and energy heating the water. This is an excellent idea and a great use of the heat created in the data center.

[Rudiger @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:49PM]

One splash from the pool, and *poof* goes a whole rack of blades!

[Jerry @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:51PM]

And I'm quite certain it would be cheaper to heat the pool with gas rather than with electricity also.

But this isn't about using electric heat to warm the pool or the parent posters room. This is about reuse of waste heat. These computers are going to be running for whatever prupose they were built for, not for heating pools or rooms, but if the waste heat from them can be used to offset the energy that would otherwise be required to heat a pool (or a room), it is most definitely a gain in energy usage efficiency.

However, I'll gladly accept your line of reasoning as relevant when you can show me how to run my computer efficiently off gas. :)

[Anonymoose @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:53PM]

"Why is this pool so warm? BILLY! I TOLD YOU TO STOP PISSING IN THE POOL."

"It's the computers, mom, I swear!"

[tamosius @ Apr 4th 2008 3:18PM]

water is so cold today! I'll run infinite loop on few racks...

[John @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:57PM]

It's most likely referring to the load. I know here in Virginia a new high-density data center was projected to require a 5,000 MW load which would mean that just like how the power supply for your computer is rated at 300 w or 500 w or whatever. The problem statement is: "the data center is expected to create 2,800 megawatts of wasted heat per year when operating at full capacity" And as everybody knows watts are a measure of electricity not heat. BTUs would be a better fit but probably harder to predict...

[Allen @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:01PM]

Lol.

[looseinthedeuce @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:01PM]

No....read my post above. It's actually a very GOOD idea. But electric heaters for the SOLE purpose of heat is a BAD idea.

That said, it's the inefficiency of the computer that makes it a good idea. Improving the efficiency of the computer, reducing excess heat, and then supplying the remaining needed heat to the pool with gas would increase the overall efficiency.

[Allen @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:02PM]

Hey the reply system isn't working. Jordan was right...

[computer.dude.28 @ Apr 3rd 2008 11:00PM]

Just click on the date of the comment to go to the seperate thread and reply there.

[Matt @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:07PM]

Just make sure not to build the pool OVER the data center.

[phanbouy @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:12PM]

@Brandon: Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

[bartoron @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:15PM]

What would be so bad about that? Heat rises, and building the pool above the server room would make a lot of sense.

[shaft350x @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:16PM]

So are they just piping the hot air out to warm up the pool? Or are they planning on having liquid cooled servers?

[Dave @ Apr 4th 2008 6:04AM]

I realize 8 lines of copy is rather a lot for you to read in one sitting, but I suggest you examine the phrase "heat exchanger" before asking stupid questions.

[looseinthedeuce @ Apr 7th 2008 12:47PM]

@ Dave

Heat exchangers can be air-to-liquid, liquid-to-liquid, or air-to-air. So what "heat exchanger" implies is neither obvious in the posting nor in your comment.

Liquid-to-liquid heat exchangers offer the best heat transfer, so that's what they SHOULD use. Since they can't likely use the pool water directly as the coolant on the CPU, that'd be the best way to go. Although they could additionally use an air-to liquid exchanger outside of the computers to gain even more radiant heat.

[Draaaainage! @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:16PM]

Yes but it's not like I am reaping the heat from my multiple PCs for the express purpose of heating my home. I am utilizing waste from electrical resistance, the by product that would be present during the use of my computer anyway, to fill a need. It's win win, I still get to use my computer(s) just as I normally would AND I get a warm room.

[Draaaainage! @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:17PM]

This was supposed to be a reply to "looseintheduece" with the comment:

"Yeah, but it's cheaper to run a gas furnace than electricity for heat (more BTUs per dollar). Also, more thermodynamically efficient. Hence, natural gas furnaces."

[darthpierce @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:20PM]

I doubt that datacenter is going to be using 5GW either... that would be using all of the electricity of 5 nuclear power plants. That single datacenter would be using .5% of the entire grid of the USA... (that would be the power of ~50 million quad-core processors)

It's going to be using 5GW-hr or ~570kW avg.

[Chad @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:20PM]

Yeah, but can you play doom on your gas furnace.

[Chad @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:21PM]

Yeah, but can you play doom on your gas furnace.

[Mark @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:25PM]

what's the big deal? ... I can warm up the pool as well.

[Anonymoose @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:28PM]

how is drainage able to reply to his mistakenly not-replied reply to something that was originally probably supposed to be a reply?

[ethana2 @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:28PM]

That's exactly how I'd describe it. ..from a homebrew perspective, of course.
Do I need a space heater? No. Will I buy a 360? ...No.

[ethana2 @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:28PM]

Good job engadget! Your code is borked /again/!
*golf clap*

[ben @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:28PM]

I run a bunch of outdated computers solely for the purpose of staying warm.

[Anonymoose @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:35PM]

@ben

so is that what you do with all your computers running microsoft?

GO APPLE!!!

sorry, trying to figure out which type of fanboy is more idiotic. i'm beginning to think fanboy anything is idiotic. or maybe that's just my 8 year high school education talking.

[bigazzknocks @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:45PM]

DakStaka @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:32PM:
"That's a great solution. The pool where I used to live in Hobart uses the heat in the sewerage pipes"

Are you saying that other people's warm poop heats your swimming water?

[Kryz @ Apr 3rd 2008 6:00PM]

What I don't understand: why talk about 'green' data centers, post an image of a data center, and not use the original image that contains the 'green' bit?

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/attachment/21514.wss?fileId=ATTACH_FILE2&fileName=_MG_9056gr4.jpg

Or are ya scared IBM finds out you're stealing their images without putting a nice reference on it? ;-)

[Franssu @ Apr 3rd 2008 6:49PM]

Nice ... now the datacenter manager can proudly say "my watercooling system is full of chicks in bikini".

[gletob @ Apr 15th 2008 10:04PM]

Or fat men in speedos