Heat Pump
The basic function of a heat pump is to move heat from one point to another. The components include a motor, a condenser and an evaporator. What’s pretty cool is that the same machine with all the same parts can be used to heat a space, and by reversing the flow, it can cool a space.
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sundial
Clocks and watches have been around for hundreds of years now and they didn’t originally depend on electricity to run! So it makes sense that there quite a few ways to run one without plugging it into a wall or using batteries. The first time pieces were powered by the sun, sand or by water.
I love the mechanism of the grandfather clock using gravity and weights to keep time moving forward.
grandfather clock
hourglass
Mechanical springs have been a good way to power watches for centuries.
I inherited a clock from my grandfather that runs on change in barometric pressure. It sits under glass and should not be moved at all in order to keep its accuracy.
potato clock
And then there’s the potato clock.
As a kid I was very excited to receive an ‘automatic’ watch with no battery. It was a self-winding watch that kept running simply by wearing it. I do remember shaking my wrist from time to time just to hear it wind.
I had that watch for many, many years. Then the next 20 years I had many, many watches with batteries. For the most part, the work required to replace the battery generally wasn’t worth keeping the watch running.
About 2 years ago my father, who is always looking for alternative energy products, found a new series of watches that are run on solar power using photovoltaics on the surface of the face. Between this technology and the self-winding watches, which have now become popular again, you can get a watch that doesn’t need batteries! I highly recommend it!
Search for ‘eco-drive’, ‘solar watches’, or ‘self-winding watch’ to find them. Here is a link to my watch:
Citizen Women’s Eco-Drive Sport Watch #EW3144-51A
