2022.10.10 19:50
and what if we used urine to heat the house
Today I was wondering how much energy we waste when we pee and flush away warm urine outside the house, instead of using it to heat the house. Here's what I came up with from my calculations.
The specific heat capacity of water is 4189.9 J/kg*K. Urine has a temperature of 36.6 °C, and the room temperature is - let's say, for the sake of argument - 20.6 °C. A liter of water at a temperature 16 K higher than the surroundings has 16 * 4189.9 = 67038.4 J of energy. So 67038.4 J * s / s, which equals 67038.4 W * s, or 18.62 W * h. Therefore, the energy wasted is 18.62 W * h / liter (watt-hours per liter of urine).
An average person pees about two liters a day. So a family of four wastes per day: 4 people * 2 liters per person * 18.62 Wh / liter, which equals 8.96 Wh.
Interesting, how many days it takes to accumulate a kilowatt-hour? 1000 / 148.95 = 6.71. Conclusion: a family of four carelessly disposing of warm urine wastes one kilowatt-hour per week. Around eighty grosz.
By the way, in camping conditions, a urine bottle heater would be an interesting invention. I wonder if someone has already thought of that.
comments:
2022.10.13 22:39 wrocławiak
W turystycznych jeszcze nie, ale w przetrwaniowych (tzw. survival) już tak. Mocz jest wtenczas fest cenny, służy jako źródło ciepła, zwłaszcza w obliczu potencjalnego wychłodzenia ciała. Chowa się zwykle za pazuchę.
back to homepage
RSS