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Location: Liverpool, UK
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 3,477
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30-10-2006, 06:12 PM
Originally Posted by Zuba 
Gas is not bad for the planet it is naturally occurring.
That's without even mentioning the nasty chemicals getting into the atmosphere from the combution of traces of sulphur and phosphorus compounds inevitable present in natural gas, and contributing to respiratory problems, acidification of natural environments and erosion of buildings.
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Location: Pancake flat East Anglia
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30-10-2006, 07:06 PM
Originally Posted by lillybet
i am not talking about making like a big microwave oven i am not that dim. i talking about using it to heat the water in your central heating.
Also,it would take a fair bit of energy to operate the entire system so i think it would end up being cost prohibited.
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Location: UK
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30-10-2006, 07:16 PM
A microwave generator is a lot more complicated (by comparison) and also inefficient, in that not all the microwaves would be used for the purpose they were in place for which means wasted energy. Not to mention highly dangerous to organic matter, it would literally boil us alive from the inside.
A water boiler heats the water in the boiler, not the pipes. this hot water is then passed through the pipes, the cold water then circulates back to the boiler, And since a boiler (well, modern ones at any rate) heats a small amount of water up at a time, the overall process it pretty quick.
Microwaves don't heat evenly, they create hot spots, So overall, the water is not as hot as it could be initially, and will take longer to get to the desired temperature. This takes a lot more energy to accomplish then a simple gas burner, because not only are you heating water for longer, your also expending energy that isn't doing anything useful, unlike a gas burner which heats water more rapidly and more evenly.
That's why midwives advise you not to heat a baby's bottle up in a microwave, and also why your soup can seem cold half way down, you have to mix food when you microwave.
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Location: Hampshire
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30-10-2006, 08:44 PM
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051122.gthotwater1122/BNStory/Technology
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Location: Hampshire
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Location: UK
Joined: Aug 2004
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30-10-2006, 10:11 PM
Originally Posted by lillybet
However, heating the water in central heating pipes or immersion heaters still seems feasible. Industrial units that do similar jobs can raise the temperate of liquids from 30c to 200+c in a high flow rate system, with only a few feet of exposure, ie in a matter of seconds. These are 100Kw systems tho, but I would still think that, when scaled down, this method would be more effecient that electric heater coils which require direct contact with water and can only heat the water they touch. It requires convection to take the heat away from the coil, where as microwave can heat it a)quicker and b) evenly.
Originally Posted by Zuba
Gas is not bad for the planet it is naturally occurring. Electricity is more hazzardous to the planet via the ways in which we produce it. Sorry I can fill you in on loads of interesting facts if you like
I am terrible at getting on my high horse about saving the planet 
I am actually studying property development in a bid to change the face of the earth with sustainable developments You know its the little things that make a big difference, I will start another thread for you with a few facts about it. Saves going off topic in here
Originally Posted by duboing
OK, first of all, mcrowaves are very eefficient at heating lots of things, but not water. Water is, as far as I'm concerned, the most fascinating chemical there is, and has all kind of bizarre properties which just don't apply to other stuff. The bonding between water particles make it extremely resistant to the heating mechanism applied by microwave ovens. Try putting equal masses of water and some fat-based food (cheese would work well) in your microwave for equal times in turn, then stick your finger in each. The cheese, with very little water in it would be way hotter, as it had less resistance to the heating method.
Actually, whoever told you that has got themselves in a bit of a tangle. If you're talking about natural gas, it's a fossil fuel, and the combustion of all fossil fuels poses a huge threat to our environment. Just as plants today absorb carbon dioxide, so did the plants that fossil fuels were formed from. Most plants decompose after they die, so rereleasing the carbon, but as these ancient plants were buried to form fossil fuels, the carbon was locked up inside them, and so taken out of this rapid circulation. This is all part of a continuing natural cycle, and some plants now are still being buried and fossilising, at the same time as some fossilised plants are naturally exposed releasing the locked-up carbon. However, when humans dig up and burn fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas), they interrupt the natural balance, releasing carbon into the atmosphere and ocean at a rate which is not compensated by the natural burial of carbon. This is the principle underlying the increase of the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, a major contributor to global warming.
That's without even mentioning the nasty chemicals getting into the atmosphere from the combution of traces of sulphur and phosphorus compounds inevitable present in natural gas, and contributing to respiratory problems, acidification of natural environments and erosion of buildings.
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