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I hate to say it but AC always felt like thoughtless engineering and consumerism, especially the electric varieties. It's ironic that in a sunny, energy rich en
by cannonpr 9y ago
I hate to say it but AC always felt like thoughtless engineering and consumerism, especially the electric varieties.
It's ironic that in a sunny, energy rich environment, you spend extra energy on a heat pump. In a lot of environments some better architecture will take care of the problem via passive methods, additionally evaporative methods work pretty well in dry environments and polute considerably less ?
Failing that, hell atleast use some solar energy to run the heat pumps locally, atleast stop burning stuff to power them.
Failing all of the above, stoicism isn't that bad, honest, neither are life style changes that shift high activity periods to later in the day, they are widely practised in Mediterranean countries.
- pdelbarba 9y agoCurrently live in Colorado where the highs are regularly in the 90s. Turn the house fan on at night for a couple hours, cool everything off, then close all the doors and windows during the day and everything is perfectly comfortable. When I lived in Philly however... 90% humidity and 80 degrees AT NIGHT is no joke.
- cannonpr 9y agoSo to respond, yes I generally suggested the above for dry climates, I have also lived in humid climates and agree to all the comments regarding them. However I am willing to bet we use electrical heat pumps out of sheer convenience even in climates that offer alternatives. That having been said, even for humid environments, the ground often offers us solutions that are more efficient. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-coupled_heat_exchanger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-coupled_heat_exchanger They do however ofcourse require engineering and support from society to adopt.
- scottLobster 9y agoSpeaking as someone who lives just outside Philadelphia, if you can wave a magic wand and give us a Mediterranean climate I will happily give up my air conditioner. Right now according to my phone we're at a high of 89 F (31.6 C) and 83% humidity, low of 80 degrees tonight with that same or possibly greater humidity. If I open my windows tonight I get to experience my sheets sticking to my body like sweaty clothing every time I move and a thin layer of moisture on all of my possessions (including electronics) tomorrow morning. And this is not atypical of summer on the mid-Atlantic.
- err4nt 9y agoIn Toronto (Canada! land of snow and the North Pole) we've been having 90% humidity at night. I have AC but it's barely making a difference. Opening a window would be insanity. I just flew out to Calgary and we have a nice hot day with 40% humidity and it feels great. If you've only ever lived in dry areas I can understand not being aware, but even with AC, in places with high humidity it's just disgusting in the heat, and chilling to the bone in the cold in a way that dry areas just never get.
- cuddlybacon 9y agoI was going to say the same thing, but for Vancouver. :)