In the UK, a pilot project is replacing gas boilers with Raspberry Pi servers for heating. This reduces heating costs by almost 40%. Similar projects are also underway in Germany, where waste heat is used for heating.
In the UK, an innovative concept is currently being tested, where gas heaters are replaced by small server clusters equipped with Raspberry Pis. Heating costs have been rising sharply in the UK for years, reports the magazine Investing.com.
The small computer systems are then used simultaneously as a heat source and as part of a cloud computing service. This is driven by the SHIELD initiative (short for: Smart Heat and Intelligent Energy in Low-income Districts).
The advantage: heating becomes significantly cheaper overall and, in addition, the concept is environmentally friendly, as less energy is consumed overall. This concept is also already being implemented in France and Germany.
Heating with waste heat from servers reduces costs for residents by up to 40 %
Who is testing the principle? UK Power Networks (UKPN) is a power distribution network operator serving South East England, East England and London. The operator is currently testing what are called “HeatHub” systems: These are large systems with 500 Raspberry Pis that are immersed in oil. The computational work heats the oil, which, in turn, heats radiators and the water in the house.
The devices are part of a service from Thermify, which offers distributed cloud computing. The computing power is sold, while the resulting waste heat is used directly for heating. Initial pilot projects have been successfully carried out in Wales. By 2030, Thermify aims to roll out about 100,000 such installations per year.
How cheap will heating be? The average annual heating costs (gas and electricity combined) for British households last year were about £1,738 per month. In contrast, Thermify’s innovative Raspberry Pi system costs about £5.60 (approximately €6.60) per month, or about £67.20 per year. This represents a savings of around 40% compared to the normal bill.
Are there similar projects? Yes, there are initial commercial projects especially in France (Qarnot with heaters equipped with processors) or Germany (where data centers heat swimming pools or greenhouses).
As an example: In Berlin-Schöneberg, a project called Pallasseum uses waste heat from servers to cover at least 65% of the heating needs of residents and saves over 800 tons of CO₂ annually.
Heating with waste heat could provide a viable, decentralized, and environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels in European households in the future.
The Raspberry Pi is one of the most popular computers in the world. Researchers have now developed an exoskeleton using such a system. In the future, it should also be possible to buy the system. However, the development time will take a few more years to reach market readiness: Popular computer could improve the lives of thousands of people – Makes walking faster and easier
