Heata, which began as an innovation project with British Gas, is a UK company that connects a server to your hot water cylinder and provides hot water to the house master for free up to 4.8 kWh per day, and at least 2.5 kWh as per contractual obligations.
The installation process is said to be tested and approved by British Gas so you don’t lose your hot water cylinder warranty, and the heat transfer mechanism is patented as well under the UK patent GB2576035. A technician would come to cut the insulation and attach a thermal bridge to the cylinder. The installation takes 30 minutes, and if you decide you don’t want to host the server after all, it can be removed and sealed without losing the warranty.
There are some limitations as it only works with vented 425mm to 450mm diameter cylinders and you also need to have enough space around the cylinder (401 x 281 x 110mm) to install the server. Heata says each of their units uses 56% less electricity and saves 1 tonne of carbon per year against a typical data center plus hot water heating. It also saves up to £200 / year for the typical household, and it can deliver up to 80% of an average UK household’s hot water energy consumption.
It looks pretty good on paper as long as they take care of potential downsides like a water leak due to a botched installation. If you happen to live in the UK with a hot water cylinder that matches the requirements, you may apply to the Heata trial. The installation includes an electric meter just for the server, and the electricity bill will be paid by Innovate UK and Heata.
heata.co/trial
The installation process is said to be tested and approved by British Gas so you don’t lose your hot water cylinder warranty, and the heat transfer mechanism is patented as well under the UK patent GB2576035. A technician would come to cut the insulation and attach a thermal bridge to the cylinder. The installation takes 30 minutes, and if you decide you don’t want to host the server after all, it can be removed and sealed without losing the warranty.
There are some limitations as it only works with vented 425mm to 450mm diameter cylinders and you also need to have enough space around the cylinder (401 x 281 x 110mm) to install the server. Heata says each of their units uses 56% less electricity and saves 1 tonne of carbon per year against a typical data center plus hot water heating. It also saves up to £200 / year for the typical household, and it can deliver up to 80% of an average UK household’s hot water energy consumption.
It looks pretty good on paper as long as they take care of potential downsides like a water leak due to a botched installation. If you happen to live in the UK with a hot water cylinder that matches the requirements, you may apply to the Heata trial. The installation includes an electric meter just for the server, and the electricity bill will be paid by Innovate UK and Heata.
heata.co/trial
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sorted byThis is a slightly different idea with the hot water cylinder. I'm going to have a read through the terms...
bbc.co.uk/new…775
But apparently a French company called Qarnot also tried it.
ec.europa.eu/res…ree