[sdiy] Peltier Elements

[Ian Fritz]

Hi Martin --

Sounds like you have been making good progress!

Peltier elements are definitely do-able.  Usually you would just mount them 
with the hot side exposed to the room environment.  They *will* heat up 
your room a bit.

The down side of this approach, as I remember, is that the elements aren't 
too efficient and you end up needing to make a big dc supply to run 
them.  The ones I have worked with need 1-2 amps of current to operate.

Other approaches to the cooling problem might be to bring in another, 
non-controlled air stream to increase the cooling rate at the lower 
temperatures or to add some kind of heat exchanger, maybe put some ice in a 
thermos box and bring the air stream across it.

With any cooling aproach remember to take precautions to avoid water 
condensation.

   Ian


At 04:16 AM 5/12/2003, Czech Martin wrote:
>Since my thermo chamber has no active cooling, I'm considering
>peltier elements. They are pretty expensive.
>I think the problem is that I have to maintain a large temperature
>difference, i.e. cool the hot side of the element, otherwise
>it won't cool. This can cause some trouble in the construction
>and thermal isolation.
>
>Any hints/experiences?
>
>
>Martin Czech
>
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