A pad that gets hot and cold when connected to a battery?

[Blue Balls]

Hello,

Has anyone out there in fridge land heard of a flexible pad that gets hot on one side and cool on the other when connected to a battery or power supply? I need to know what they're called if possible and if anyone knows where to get some that would be great,

Cheers,

Mark.

[The MG Pony]

TEC, or PELT and they are not very flexible, and insanely inefficient.

[NH3LVR]

Balls;

It is known as the Peltier Effect.
One Company that makes them is.
http://www.ferrotec.com/products/thermal/modules/?gclid=CIux0fuUuogCFUscGAodRg3Q1g
Mr. Pony is entirely correct. They are insanely inefficient. I worked for a company that used them and if I recall correctly they were about 40% efficient. For some applications they work, but for general use-not so well.
I thought of all sorts of applications for them until I spoke to the Engineer who designed our systems. (We used them for cooling Lasers)

[Electrocoolman]

They are used in the small 12v cool/warm boxes and small fridges. They need a fan to blow air over the heatsinks (one cold, one hot). Current direction through the 'junction' determines which side gets cold and which side gets hot.
They will only develop a fixed temperature difference across the junction of the two materials, and so the temperature of the cold side is governed by the ambient temperature of the hot side....the warmer the outside, the less cold the inside.
I think thermocouples rely on the peltier effect as well but in reverse....heat generates a voltage.

Put 'peltier effect' in google and look at wikipedia.

[rbartlett]

http://www.coolchips.gi/

cheers

richard

[The MG Pony]

If you indeed apply heat to a pelt you'll get a current