Electronic – arduino – Peltier with Mosfet – Heat Issues and Alternatives

arduinopeltier

I'm interested in using a Peltier device in conjunction with arduino as a precise temperature controller. I've followed the example below and have switched out batteries with a 12v power supply. After switching to the power supply the temperature gradient improved but the Mosfet became scorching hot. Although you might be inclined to say throw a heatsink on and all will be well, the end use would be a compact solution that would not favor the use of a heatsink. Are there any design changes that could be made so that I can avoid this heat issue?

http://garagelab.com/profiles/blogs/how-to-use-a-peltier-with-arduino

Best Answer

You don't show the circuit, but it seems you are trying to linearly regulate the Peltier current. That is going to cause significant dissipation in the pass element.

A more efficient way is to use PWM, although the pulses need to be filtered so that the Peltier sees the average. I go into a lot more detail about this here.

Related Topic