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 Dutch start-up Nerdalize has teamed up with energy providers Eneco
to launch its e-Radiator prototype, which is being tested in five
Dutch homes as an alternative heating device. The e-Radiator is a
computer server that crunches numbers for a variety of Belgian firms
- while the resultant heat will heat the rooms in which they're
situated. Nerdalize believes the scheme could be a commercially
viable alternative to traditional radiators.
CEO Boaz Leupe told Reuters the scheme is ideal for both computing
clients and home owners.
"These computers generate massive amounts of heat and then you start
using energy to cool that down again, which is a bit of a waste.
With the solution that Nerdalize has, we don't actually have to
build the data center, which saves a lot of costs in infrastructure
and we don't have the cooling overhead, plus that you have the
environmental benefit, that the Kilowatt hour you are using is used
twice, once to heat the home and once to compute the clients task
without the cooling overhead," Leupe told Reuters.
He added: "Actually what we do is not that different from a normal
cloud provider, pretty much we make sure that there is
infrastructure, or hardware and that there is a lot of clients that
now book their feed with traditional cloud provider, and basically
what booking capacity means is that you rent a computer for a little
while and we rent out computer to universities and companies that
have computer-intensive needs."
Nerdalize's founders thought up the scheme after crowding around a
laptop to keep warm after a home thermostat broke.
The e-Radiators stored in the test homes are being used to run
complex calculations and other computer-intensive jobs for an array
of companies and research institutions. Nerdalize will pay the bill
for powering the radiators, allowing Eneco customers to stay warm
for free. Nerdalize say that the scheme is also environmentally
friendly, because energy is effectively used twice in the new
system.
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"The people's benefit is actually quite simple, what we do is we
reimburse the electricity the server uses, and that we can do
because of the computer clients on the other side, and in that way
home owners actually get heating for free and compute users don't
have to pay for the overhead of the data center, so it's pretty much
a win-win situation," said Leupe.
In addition to saving money by negating the need for large data
centers, large computer firms will also benefit from no longer
needing to use energy to cool the servers down, which can add
considerably to their own bills.
Jan Visser, one of the home owners in the scheme, said he is looking
forward to receiving lower electricity bills.
"This has nothing to do with our existing central heating
installation which stayed intact, this server heater is an entirely
individual heating device," said Visser. "Of course, if it gives
good enough warmth, you can use less of your existing central
heating and there is the chance for home owner to pay less bills."
The trial will be monitored throughout the year, and once completed
the companies will decide whether to extend the system.
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