apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

According to Treehugger, the funeral parlor plans to start harnessing waste heat from their crematorium furnaces next month and running it through a heat exchanger to generate electricity for their air-conditioning system!

The conversion cost the parlor $236,000. And while it's a nifty idea, some aren't psyched. The Central News Agency reports that Taipei City Councillor Chuang Ruei-hsiung said, "It's creepy that the mourners are cooled by air-conditioning powered by the bodies of their relatives being burnt downstairs," He's got a point.

But what if you could do something similar in the home. We always hate using the oven in the blazing heat of summer, especially if the A/C needs to be run at the same time. Just seems backwards to heat up our tiny apartment while baking, only to have to cool it off with he A/C. What if we could take the wasted heat from our cooking to power my lights and air conditioner?

(Image: limonada via Creative Commons license)