Thermoelectric Peltier cooler TEC-12706 (TEC or Peltier) create a temperature differential on each side. One side gets hot and the other side gets cool. Therefore, they can be used to either warm something up or cool something down, depending on which side you use. You can also take advantage of a temperature differential to generate electricity.
This Peltier works very well as long as you remove the heat from the hot side. After turning on the device, the hot side will heat quickly, the cold side will cool quickly. If you do not remove the heat from the hot side (with a heat sink or other device), the Peltier will quickly reach stasis and do nothing. We recommend using an old computer CPU heatsink or other block of metal to pull heat from the hot side. We were able to use a computer power supply and CPU heatsink to make the cold side so uncomfortable we could not hold our finger to it.
The (127 interface, 15 amps) is a workhorse. It features thinner alumina plates (better thermal conductivity) than the more common TEC1-12705 and 12706, fatter wires, and can be run at up to 200 watts with sufficient cooling. Recommend running at 100 watts per module or below for excellent performance and longevity. While you can push a 12705 to 80 or more, all you'll get is heat. The 12715 is happy at 100-180 watts with appropriate cooling.
