4 ms·

they even make note of Texas fairing pretty middle of the pack on a per capita basis. if they normalized for some sort of temperature metric I'm sure Texas is v

by colbyh 9y ago

they even make note of Texas fairing pretty middle of the pack on a per capita basis. if they normalized for some sort of temperature metric I'm sure Texas is very average - weather in the state is brutal at both ends of the year.

JadeNB 9y ago
> weather in the state is brutal at both ends of the year. It should be mentioned, though, that the remedy to the brutal summers can be just as brutal. I'm sure that I'm not the only person who expects summer colds because of constant transitions from the sweltering-hot outdoors to the icy-cold air-conditioned tundras that every business maintains. (Also, I'm sure parts of Texas get severe winters, but I've never seen one in Fort Worth. (Or did you mean something different by 'both ends'?) The main thing that I see here is that houses are built with no effective insulation, so that, during the winter, a perfectly manageable temperature outside can render the inside frigid.) EDIT: I'm sorry for downvote whining, but, just to be clear, this isn't just a "the weather, amirite?" post; while I agree that living in Texas without AC is probably unbearable, I also think that there's no need to crank ACs to the levels at which businesses (and buses!) set them, and I can't imagine that this aggressive cooling doesn't have a significant energy impact.
- nathancahill 9y ago
  Yeah, fully agree about the aggressive cooling. This has been studied: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/science/chilly-at-work-a-decades-old-formula-may-be-to-blame.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/science/chilly-at-work-a-... (this article links to the actual study).
- hourislate 9y ago
  I know that I walked into my sons high school during the summer to visit the office (DFW) and the whole school was so cold that the admins where wearing sweaters and long pants. This is a massive high school for 3000 plus students, 4 Gyms, etc. I can't imagine what it costs to cool it and the extra expense of keeping that cold when no one is there. I agree with you that homes in Texas are insulated very poorly. Interesting enough Demilic is headquartered in Grand Prairie and is one of that largest suppliers of spray foam in the country. With the heat in the summers and some of the cold spells in the winter you would think they would have a better building code. It seems the strategy is to find cheaper sources of power while not making an effort to build better buildings to save power.
  - wavefunction 9y ago
    They probably don't have sophisticated control systems in place to partially shut down the AC on the campus. If it's like my modern LEED certified office building once 7PM hits it gets pretty hot.
  - Frondo 9y ago
    This isn't snark: building codes are regulation and Texas is an independence-loving state, even when that isn't particularly sensible or doesn't lead to good outcomes for life in general. Mandating better insulation in homes might add a little up-front cost. It'd also do wonders for energy consumption. Let people choose, they might say--well, housing is a good situation where you might not really have any choice at all (if no one's building houses with proper insulation), or be well-informed enough to make an informed choice, or whatever, and that's exactly the place where regulation is a net benefit for the society in question.
  - jfoutz 9y ago
    Schools are notorious for lowest bidder construction without a thought about operating costs. I saw one building that ran ac and heated the cold air up to the desired temperature. Stupid. But cheap to build.
- sn9 9y ago
  Transitions between hot and cold temperatures don't cause colds. Cold viruses cause colds. You get summer colds because more people congregate in close quarters when the weather outside is unbearable, making virus transmission easier.
  - nikanj 9y ago
    Transitions between hot and cold temperatures cause runny noses, and runny noses cause nose touching - which does cause colds.
- colbyh 9y ago
  I grew up in Houston - until the last decade or so there has always been one cold as hell month during the year. I remember Februaries where the high temp during the entire month was in the 30s. my point being that you have to condition your air pretty much year round if you live north of Galveston, unfortunately.

by colbyh 9y ago

JadeNB 9y ago

> weather in the state is brutal at both ends of the year. It should be mentioned, though, that the remedy to the brutal summers can be just as brutal. I'm sure that I'm not the only person who expects summer colds because of constant transitions from the sweltering-hot outdoors to the icy-cold air-conditioned tundras that every business maintains. (Also, I'm sure parts of Texas get severe winters, but I've never seen one in Fort Worth. (Or did you mean something different by 'both ends'?) The main thing that I see here is that houses are built with no effective insulation, so that, during the winter, a perfectly manageable temperature outside can render the inside frigid.) EDIT: I'm sorry for downvote whining, but, just to be clear, this isn't just a "the weather, amirite?" post; while I agree that living in Texas without AC is probably unbearable, I also think that there's no need to crank ACs to the levels at which businesses (and buses!) set them, and I can't imagine that this aggressive cooling doesn't have a significant energy impact.

nathancahill 9y ago
Yeah, fully agree about the aggressive cooling. This has been studied: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/science/chilly-at-work-a-decades-old-formula-may-be-to-blame.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/science/chilly-at-work-a-... (this article links to the actual study).
hourislate 9y ago
I know that I walked into my sons high school during the summer to visit the office (DFW) and the whole school was so cold that the admins where wearing sweaters and long pants. This is a massive high school for 3000 plus students, 4 Gyms, etc. I can't imagine what it costs to cool it and the extra expense of keeping that cold when no one is there. I agree with you that homes in Texas are insulated very poorly. Interesting enough Demilic is headquartered in Grand Prairie and is one of that largest suppliers of spray foam in the country. With the heat in the summers and some of the cold spells in the winter you would think they would have a better building code. It seems the strategy is to find cheaper sources of power while not making an effort to build better buildings to save power.
- wavefunction 9y ago
  They probably don't have sophisticated control systems in place to partially shut down the AC on the campus. If it's like my modern LEED certified office building once 7PM hits it gets pretty hot.
- Frondo 9y ago
  This isn't snark: building codes are regulation and Texas is an independence-loving state, even when that isn't particularly sensible or doesn't lead to good outcomes for life in general. Mandating better insulation in homes might add a little up-front cost. It'd also do wonders for energy consumption. Let people choose, they might say--well, housing is a good situation where you might not really have any choice at all (if no one's building houses with proper insulation), or be well-informed enough to make an informed choice, or whatever, and that's exactly the place where regulation is a net benefit for the society in question.
- jfoutz 9y ago
  Schools are notorious for lowest bidder construction without a thought about operating costs. I saw one building that ran ac and heated the cold air up to the desired temperature. Stupid. But cheap to build.
sn9 9y ago
Transitions between hot and cold temperatures don't cause colds. Cold viruses cause colds. You get summer colds because more people congregate in close quarters when the weather outside is unbearable, making virus transmission easier.
- nikanj 9y ago
  Transitions between hot and cold temperatures cause runny noses, and runny noses cause nose touching - which does cause colds.
colbyh 9y ago
I grew up in Houston - until the last decade or so there has always been one cold as hell month during the year. I remember Februaries where the high temp during the entire month was in the 30s. my point being that you have to condition your air pretty much year round if you live north of Galveston, unfortunately.