[PSUBS-MAILIST] Thermoelectric air conditioning

[Alan James]

Hi Psubbers,
Has anyone looked at thermoelectric coolers (peltier devices) for air conditioning / dehumidifying & heating.
I'm hopeful someone might be able to save me a bit of research.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling
For those who aren't familiar, they are normally used to cool small units like computers, electrical cabinets & chili bins.
They are about 1&1/2" square & 1/8"  thick with two wires coming off them. 
The unit I have is 60W & operates off 12-15V. When powered up, one side gets hot & the other cold.
The cooling effectiveness is regulated by how well you can dissipate the heat from the hot side.
In the submersible application the hull can act as the heat sink. By switching polarity you have a heater.
The down side is that you use about 3 times more power for cooling than traditional refrigeration units, 
however an air conditioning unit is bulky, & it would be a trade off between the additional battery size & expense
to run the peltier cooler as apposed to the bulk & expense of an air conditioning unit & it's associated through
hull heat exchange unit .
The heating faze is more economical. 
G.L. require air conditioning & humidity control in submersibles.
Thanks
Alan
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