TIL that a small swimming pool in Exmouth UK, uses a data centre to heat it.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64939558?app-referrer=deep-link

95 points · 10 comments · view on lemmy.world

10 Comments

Grimy@lemmy.world · 48 pts · 56d (6 replies)

I've seen the same principal used to heat houses. Wasting energy should be illegal.

Fleur_@aussie.zone · 3 pts · 53d

This man is about to sue entropy out of existence

Jarme@jlai.lu · 2 pts · 54d (4 replies)

It's much more complicated than it seems

AllHailTheSheep@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 53d (1 reply)

90% of what humans have accomplished is more complicated than it seems. any programmer or engineer will confirm.

if this was a priority for the people in power, it would already be done.

Jarme@jlai.lu · 1 pts · 53d

It has been a serious subject in engineering for decades, it's only becoming more common because heat is becoming more expensive and polygeneration can now be used as for marketing

billwashere@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 53d (1 reply)

It’s not really. Sell a solar powered hot water heater that just happens to be a small DC in a box to people with stable fiber connections. Make them subsidized and voila … distributed data centers that are cheaper, more efficient, energy reducing, and much less problematic.

Jarme@jlai.lu · 1 pts · 53d

And how do you cool it in summer, when people don't need as much heat?

fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 11 pts · 56d (2 replies)

I hope there's a cutoff for it. I'm not sure they'd want much heating this time of year. Especially this one.

binarytobis@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 55d (1 reply)

They may have to pivot into being a sauna.

Edit: I realize now they were saying we’re in a heat wave, and not that the data center puts out so much heat it would boil the pool.

not_woody_shaw@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 55d

Or a soup kitchen.