The idea is to have a water cooled server farm (yes this is expensive and potentially hazardous to a mainframe's health) and have it exchange heat with a large water reservoir for a laundromat.

The laundromat could use the excess heat to preheat water for washing machines.

The water reservoir could also have a heat sink attached to some part of it to preheat the air that goes into the dryers as well.

Keep that laundromat open 24/7 and get PAID to cool your server farm.
-- wuss, Dec 23 2009

http://www.248am.co...the-google-laundry/ Disclaimer: I have no idea what this is. [jutta, Dec 23 2009]

Sounds like a good one - after all if Cray can use water cooling, why can't everyone else!!

A great idea for minimising carbon emissions, and how about using the exhaust heat (from the Computer Facility AC System) to preheat also? Seems like an opportunity to use an ammonia - cycle heat pump here!

Definitely worth my bunny vote!
-- Parrotile, Dec 23 2009


Take it a step further and run it to the car wash next door, then grow flowers.
-- normzone, Dec 23 2009


I've always wanted a popcorn machine blade with my local blade server - you set the server to model the weather, or re-render an open-source computer animated film, and wait for tasty algorithmic- enriched popcorn to be popped by the waste heat!
-- Aristotle, Dec 24 2009


Loading...
-- Jinbish, Dec 24 2009


You could use the water to heat a swimming pool too, and show advertisements in the swimming pool. (+ for high level of automation, though [jutta] had found something interesting)
-- Inyuki, Dec 24 2009


Desalination...the (laundry) list is endless. This idea is so good that every other idiot that thinks of it is going to be {mf-d} redundant. It might become the new "Gym Power" of the help file. Well done [wuss] have a bun...

[wuss] speaking of gym power, haven't I seen you before?
-- 4whom, Dec 24 2009


Data centers like electronics stores are turning into giant brand named warehouses like google, rackspace, colo4 etc for economies of sale. Due to security and power concerns they cannot e located residential areas so any small exchange is out. Converting that heat into power for some sort of bio fuel generation makes more sense.
-- pastrychef, Dec 25 2009


It depends how much heat is produced. A small steam turbine power plant comes to mind...

//power concerns they cannot e located residential areas// There's a data center about half a mile from my development. There's a development directly behind it with a view of the building too.
-- wolstech, Dec 25 2009



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