The efficiency of a thermodynamic system is a key quantity on which its usefulness and wider application
relies. This is especially true for a device that operates with marginal energy sources and close to ambient temperatures.
Various definitions of efficiency are available, each of which reveals a certain performance characteristic of a device. Of
these, some consider only the thermodynamic cycle undergone by the working fluid, whereas others contain additional
information, including relevant internal components of the device that are not part of the thermodynamic cycle. Yet others
attempt to factor out the conditions of the surroundings with which the device is interfacing thermally during operation. In
this paper we present a simple approach for the modeling of complex oscillatory thermal-fluid systems capable of
converting low grade heat into useful work. We apply the approach to the NIFTE, a novel low temperature difference heat
utilization technology currently under development. We use the results from the model to calculate various efficiencies
and comment on the usefulness of the different definitions in revealing performance characteristics. We show that the
approach can be applied to make design optimization decisions, and suggest features for optimal efficiency of the NIFTE.