Image: INQUIRER.net stock photo
Smartphones, computers, and of course servers generate heat. Data centers consume millions in trying to keep things cool; otherwise, the very back bone of the information age will come crashing down.
To help keep cooling costs down, Dutch startup Nerdalize is offering to use these heat producing servers to heat up homes and make hot water, reports The Verge.
Nerdalize wall server for home heating. Image Nerdalize
Their proposition is this: instead of spending so much money on cooling solutions for servers, why not install servers in houses and use the heat they produce to warm up homes and showers?
Nerdalize has started a crowdfunding campaign and hopes to equip 42 Dutch homes with servers to heat up their water supply by August.
The company claims that the heating servers will save customer €300 (roughly P16,700) a year while companies will spend up to 50 percent less for data servers. These installations will also help lessen a home’s carbon footprint by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide it produces from traditional heating solutions.
While this project sounds ingenious and practical, it does give rise to a few issues, such as the security of the data in the home servers. Will the business plan be scalable as well? It appears that the only way to find out is to wait until Nerdalize can fully equip their target homes and check what happens after. Alfred Bayle/JB