well, 22000 btu/hr is a bit less than most furnaces... which range in the 
100000+ realm.. but it is still a respectable amount of heat for a 
Digital Electric furnaCe.. :) 

i would install a LOT of filters and actually run it using a small room not
much bigger than the vax as a heat exchanger, to not have the VAX's fans be
in series with the flow of air through the house- it would put more 
strain on the VAX even if you helped them out with other fans.. the heat will
not be lost anywhere, since youreheating the house one way or another.. :)

now... liquid cooled VAX? 
a VAX 9000 would be even better for heating a whole house.. 8-)

isildur

On Thu, 16 Aug 2001, Gunther Schadow wrote:

> Aaron J. Grier wrote:
> 
>  > On Thu, Aug 09, 2001 at 11:33:49PM -0700, Carlini, Antonio wrote:
>  >
>  >>They say this one came with their building :-)
>  >>
>  >>http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1625704207
>  >>
>  >>It's not a VAX 6000 but it would be cool to own (and it might even be
>  >>supported by NetBSD).
>  >>
>  >>$10 and no reserve (but shipping might be an issue I guess).
>  >>
>  >
>  > shipping?  I'd be more worried about power and cooling requirements.
>  > 8650 is ECL: my catalog says 22,000 BTU/hr...  not something for the
>  > basement without serious air conditioning.  :)
> 
> 
> Actually I was thinking about how this could be made to fit in a
> home. Especially if you have a total electric home. You might
> want to replace this one for your furnace like in the following
> drawing:
> 
> BEFORE
> 
>       +--------
>       |  +----- >> AIR OUT
>       |  |
>       |  |
>     +-+  +
>     |    |
>     |    | FURNACE
>     |    |
>     |    +-----
>     |    +----- << AIR IN
>     +----+
> 
> AFTER
>               +-----------------
>               |  +-------------- >> AIR OUT
>               |  |
>     +---------+  +---------+
>     | VAX 8650             |
>     |                      |
>     |                      |
>     |                      |
>     |                      |
>     |                      +----
>     |                      +---- << AIR IN
>     +----------------------+
> 
> I am not sure how an electrical furnace would compare with a
> VAX 8650 in terms of heat (1) production, (2) efficiancy, and
> (3) total power uptake, and (4) plower air throughput. In the
> best case the furnace would take more energy but produce the
> same amount of heat over the intermittent period that it is
> running. You could then swap in the VAX that would produce
> less heat but would run continuously. If the numbers come
> close, this might be a project to pursue. I have to replace
> my furnace in the next few years anyway... however, mine is
> natural gas. Any way to run the VAX on natual gas?
> 
> cheers,
> -Gunther
> 
> 
> -- 
> Gunther Schadow, M.D., Ph.D.                    gschadow@regenstrief.org
> Medical Information Scientist      Regenstrief Institute for Health Care
> Adjunct Assistant Professor        Indiana University School of Medicine
> tel:1(317)630-7960                         http://aurora.regenstrief.org
> 
>