A 92-year-old Christchurch man is proving age is no barrier to
invention.
Peter Davey has come up with a way to instantly boil water by, he
claims, using the energy of sound.
Peter has been perfecting the concept for decades and he is now
ready to go into business.
Peter's sonic boiler has been bubbling away for 50 years.
"The first ones I made were from bits from the scrap heaps," he says.
And at age 92, it was his birthday on Wednesday. He now wants to make some money out of it.
"I hope to find a manufacturer that will make the things. I think maybe millions will be sold in China for instance. It's a very portable thing, cheap to make."
He claims his device uses electricity to make sound within a ball, and the sonic vibrations boil water.
"That's the secret of the whole thing, is its resonance," he explains.
The idea came from Peter's saxophone playing days where he realised sound resonates at different frequencies.
It's yet to be tested by experts and there are already some sceptics.
"I don't believe it's sound and I'm not convinced that it's sound and I think there's another explanation," says Professor Arthur Williamson, a retired engineer.
Williamson believes it's the current that actually heats the water, not the sound, but one thing's for sure.
"It works," says Williamson.
It boils water in about 40 seconds.
Peter hopes to get a manufacturer on board and continue living by his motto.
"My ambition is to die young and as late as possible", he says.
And he's living proof that good things do take time.
