reheat - Refrigerator's Heat Recycling

Para qué sirve

Electricity prices and climate change are two key issues in our society. reheat tackles both by using the refrigerator's residual heat to help the water heater, saving energy and making a positive economic and environmental impact.

Qué te inspiró

We were inspired by the worsening climate change and the constantly increasing electricity and gas prices. The cost of living is higher than ever and our planet is at a huge risk. That was our key idea while designing reheat. We noticed how much energy we use and, specially, we waste. During the design process, we remembered the sheer amount of residual heat the refrigerator produces. Taking into consideration that everyone has a refrigerator and they need to be constantly running, we knew there would be a way to reuse such a big amount of energy.

Cómo funciona

Traditional refrigerators work by transferring their inside heat to their surroundings. The coolant absorbs said heat and runs through the refrigerator coil, evenly distributed throughout its outer surface, to dissipate it. By introducing this coil inside a water tank, we can instead heat up water and reuse it. By connecting said water tank with the water heater, we can supply it with cold water (before the water heater has reached the desired temperature), heat it, and then return it to the water heater at whichever temperature we desire. As the water heater is constantly supplying and reheating water, the water tank is much smaller than the water heater, which lets this process to repeat constantly and quickly. The coil would be made of aluminium or copper due to their great conductivity and corrosion resistance, and the water tank would be placed behind the refrigerator, taking up minimal space while having a more than sufficient capacity.

Proceso de diseño

We started analysing societal problems, such as people with impaired hearing or movement. However, we didn't find any particularly good problem we could solve with a simple enough product. We then started studying energy waste and how could we minimize it. We searched for the most energy-consuming appliances, such as the furnace, the AC... Until we stumbled across the refrigerator. We tried to find ways to reuse or transform its residual heat, via refractory bricks or thermoelectric batteries, but they were too ineffective or too complicated. Finally, we thought about the water heater. This was a match made in heaven: both of them are running 24/7, the water heater needs heat and the refrigerator is constantly producing it. We proposed different ideas. We first thought about introducing the coil inside the water heater, but that would pose a cooling problem. Then we thought about reheat, submerging the coil in a water tank and transferring the heated water into the heater. After ruling out filling the water tank with mains water, we decided to fill it with the heater's water. The only thing left was the design itself. We thought of an outside tank, a secondary tank in the heater... Until we thought of the final idea: a thin prism behind the refrigerator.

Qué lo hace diferente

Our design tackles in an effective and cheap way a problem yet to solve: energy waste at a household level. Even though at an industrial level technologies like this are starting to be implemented, they are way too complicated and specific for their requirements. reheat is a simple system that doesn't use new experimental technology or expensive materials, it is cheap, easy to implement and incredibly effective. It only needs two thermostats and an Arduino program to perfectly run. This model could be easily introduced in every household worldwide due to the fact we all need refrigerators and water heaters, and it would make an extremely positive environmental impact while also reducing the cost of living.

Planes para el futuro

While we already have a defined design, materials and system, the next step for reheat would be to start testing it in real-life scenarios. Even though the benefits are mathematically proven, it would need further research to perfectly optimize it. Another interesting way to continue would be to develop more models for different needs, like different capacities, and further implement the refrigerator with the heater. For example, we could refill the water tank with mains water and use the water heater as a way to maintain the water temperature, and when a bigger amount of hot water is demanded the heater starts working to heat more water.

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