this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2026
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That's the tricky part.
This sand battery works by offsetting the production of heat to be used in an already existing district heating system.
That system does not easily change into a district cooling system. It is simply not built to run in reverse. Every part of it from production through distribution, exchanging and in-house distribution are made with one purpose: To transfer heat in one direction.
It makes sense to use renewable energy to charge this battery, so they don't need as much fossil fuel or whatever they use normally.
But, if we were to make a district wide hvac-system the same way, it would probably be better and more efficient to simply use individual airconditioners using the renewable energy directly.
0c water kept cool by a big ice tank. Traditional radiators wouldn't work but there are options that do. High thermal mass of water too.