Originally Posted by
liam_g
if you want better cop with a smaller number of tec's you will have to move to a 24v psu, i would say 8v is a sweet spot for some tecs, so you could parallel 2 sets of 3 tecs in series. I would think a 48v psu would be pretty sweet to play with as well, say 5 tecs in series at 9.6v, that would be fun :d although the more tecs you put in series the more risk that one bad tec will take out your whole cooling system, 1 bad tec in a series connection will take them all out, whereas parallel they run independently regardless if one fails, unless you have paralleled them in series, in which case it will just take out that arm of the parallel.
A 24v psu allows you to do 24, 12, 8 or 6v with 1, 2, 3 or 4 tecs in series, whereas 12v only allows you to do 12, 6, 4 or 3. So that gap between 12v and 6v with one or two tecs is why 12v psu isn't as good for efficiency. Some tecs really shine in that 8-10v range.
In saying all this, if cost and space is not an issue, and you just want the best efficiency and cop, then by all means, go for 16+ tec's, the possibilities are virtually endless with tec's, but after a while you will be spending so much and the cooling system will take up so much space that you will probably want to go elsewhere, ie phase change.
My reasons for using tecs are first and foremost that it gives me the opportunity to cool below ambient and also that i can still do it quietly and i also can fit it inside my case, i am prepared to sacrifice some efficiency for those things. If noise and space are not an issue then phase might be a better choice, i have no knowledge of them so i'm not sure of there average cop. I think the cost of more than 16 tecs puts you well and truly in the realm of good phase change, single stage if not cascade, but they are noisy, huge and a whole different beast really.
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