How to check if PSU will power TEC?

Okay, now while surfing around i want to be able to hit the antec site ...the enermax site, and reslellers sites aswell for PSUs and when i do, i want to be able to say to myself... "hmm, well that wont power my 80w pelt" or.. "yes this will defintly power my 120w pelt"

...and i know most Computer based PSUs aren't a great choice for pelts, better to use a stand alone... but i'm looking to use 80watt pelts most of the time anyhow... just want to able to check for compatibilty... so help me out guys what EXACTLY am i looking for in terms of on the PSU its self?

Thanks alot!~

hey.. i always ask before i research, bad habit i guess... anyhow i think i pretty much understand how it works now.. but i got a new question... what HSF (w/ low noise) will cool this pelt?

The FROST-74 From tedist.com

40mm / 6.1A / 65.0w / 16.7v /

Would a decent HSF like a Thermal Integration's Dr. Thermal TI-S8640L?

1st one on the list..
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=62&manufactory=1488&DEPA=1

This pelt will be powered by the 12 Volt circuit on your PSU. Check to see how many amps your PSU is rated for. The pelt will draw less than it is rated(because it will not be at 16 Volts), but make sure that you have plenty more than the "6.1 Amps" that the pelt may be drawing.

Now we get to do some thermal equations... Hooray.

The Dr.Thermal has a disgusting thermal resistance of .48 degC/Watt. So, if you used a 62 watt peltier, your hotside would be 29.8(.48 X 62) degrees above ambient. So if Ambient is 22 degrees, the hot side would be 51.8 degrees.
This is with no load on the pelt

If you can find out how much heat(in watts) the source puts out, here is an equation that will help:
Delta T = (1 - (heat load/max cooling power))*max temp difference

where heat load = CPU's heat output in watts,
max cooling power = Maximum peltier rating in watts
max temp = Peltier's maximum temperature rating, in degrees C.

So if your TEC's maximum ratings are 60W and 68C then loading it with 40 W will give you about (1 - 40/60)*68 = 22.7C temp. difference.

Before you choose what pelt to get, I would definitely read this article:
Peltier Basics - Overclockers.com

What are you using this for? a CPU, a GPU, a chipset?

Go look on ebay for a large 12 volt power supply. If you cant find anything there go to your local computer store and buy 2 or so AT power suplies and hook them up in parallel, then you will ahve the amps you need. Most AT power suplies will give you 4 amps, so 2 will do the job.

or

If your like me and don't want to put a dozen AT power supplies in your computer, most of the sites that sell peltiers will also sell you 12 volt PSUs.

Or you could go to Rad Shack and get a 110 VAC to 12 VDC Transformer, and a relay. Then wire it in to turn on when the PSU is on.