Quote:
Originally Posted by NoBozo
I have always believed that this same concept also applies to the engines in our cars/boats. If the heat we give away from the engine through the cooling system and radiator.... were recycled back into the engine somehow..we would have a very efficient engine....better gas mileage. Heat IS energy...why give it away.  NB |
The hard part is taking that heat and converting it to something useful. I'm not aware of any technology that would be efficient enough to take excess heat and create more energy from it. The keyword here is more...it takes energy to create energy and nothing is 100% efficient.
Look at it this way...
Consider case 1: A 100W (Watt) bulb running off 12 Volts = 8.333A (ampere). If the battery is rated for 85 AH (AmpHour), it would would supply 100W for a little more than 10 hours.
Now consider case 2: A 50W bulb running off 12 Volts = 4.166A. Now we're talking 20 hours...i.e. you double how long the battery will last.
Keep in mind the above cases are straight theory and not necessarily what you will see in real life, but you can use the same approach for a 60W incandescent and 10W LED bulb.