Usually, when you are cooking, the heat produced by the process is wasted. Recent products on the market make it a simple matter to turn that energy into something useful. Instead of letting it merely heat up the room, you can now charge your electronics with the power produced from cooking.
What Products Are Available?
You can find several products on the market that work in a similar manner. All of them convert heat into electricity. One of the biggest advantages of these products is that they are completely portable. This makes them ideal in an emergency situation or for camping.
Pots are one of the more common options when you want to convert heat to electricity. You need a heat source, usually a stove or a campfire, in order to get access to the energy. A simple plug on the side of the pot allows you to connect your small gadgets and devices. While cooking your dinner or boiling water for tea, you can charge your phone or GPS unit.
How It Works
All of these cooking devices have something in common. They each hold a thermoelectric generator. The generator collects the heat from the pot or the stove and converts it into electricity. The heat causes a small fan to move. This generates energy that can then be used to charge your phone or other device.
Using Thermoelectric Devices
In any situation where you might want to heat something, you can create electricity. Pots and camp stoves are excellent for emergency kits and camping, but they can also be used in the home. The sheer efficiency of the design makes them ideal for use anywhere.
What can you charge with these useful products? You can charge anything that requires less than 5 V of power. This includes most smart phones, GPS devices and other mobile products. You can also use it to power an LED light or even a small fan. The possibilities are endless. There are so many products available now that can be charged with fairly low amounts of energy.
For each product, several handy adapters are available to make them easy to use with any device. Most use a USB charger as their base. Other options can be plugged into this. If you currently charge a gadget from your computer, then you should be able to use a USB pot or stove charger.
The ability to have power even deep in the wilderness opens up many possibilities. If nothing else, these products will be invaluable in the survival situations, such as in the event of a large storm, earthquake or other natural disaster. They have already been used in the United States, in the aftermath of the storm, Sandy, which hit New York.
While heat converting products are still relatively uncommon, the technology is there. It is merely a matter of time before more appear on the market and the technology becomes even more affordable. Expect to see more become available in the near future.