4 ms·

Yeah. Grew up in California. Large swathes of homes in California don't even have an AC. Whereas have family in Houston and their summers are brutally hot and h

by ijidak 9y ago

Yeah. Grew up in California. Large swathes of homes in California don't even have an AC. Whereas have family in Houston and their summers are brutally hot and humid. Couple that with the fact that Texas seems to have more energy intense chemical, and related, industries and to me it's not surprising that Texas uses more energy than California.

labster 9y ago
Grew up in coastal SoCal, and I'm still here. The houses here weren't even built with insulation. That said, climate change has been making it worse here. >90°F (>32°C) temps used to be extremely rare when I was growing up, but last year we hit the century mark a few days (~38°C). Obligatory: can't for sure blame AGW but more extreme events are likely. Just installed the window-mounted air conditioners today for this summer, because of the Texas-like combination of heat and humidity today finally made it uncomfortable. That said, don't discount California's efficiency rules and culture in our lower energy use, either. Or the fact that urban density is higher here so you don't lose as much energy to transportation.
- masklinn 9y ago
  First paragraph reminds me of what I read on Australia, uninsulated houses and slatted surface seem very common there as well.
jdavis703 9y ago
I grew up in Virgina without air conditioning. Living in coastal California now, summers are actually nice, but you won't die in most parts of the South without AC.
- brownbat 9y ago
  Heat index in northern VA was 105 a few weeks ago. You might not die but you might want to.
- cptskippy 9y ago
  Have you been to parts of the south other than VA? I spent summers in FL and it's tolerable but many of the other states aren't. Georgia is incredibly hot and humid for much of the year and while you won't die from it, you might just lay in a pool of your own bodily fluids wishing you were. The same can be said for South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi.

by ijidak 9y ago

labster 9y ago

Grew up in coastal SoCal, and I'm still here. The houses here weren't even built with insulation. That said, climate change has been making it worse here. >90°F (>32°C) temps used to be extremely rare when I was growing up, but last year we hit the century mark a few days (~38°C). Obligatory: can't for sure blame AGW but more extreme events are likely. Just installed the window-mounted air conditioners today for this summer, because of the Texas-like combination of heat and humidity today finally made it uncomfortable. That said, don't discount California's efficiency rules and culture in our lower energy use, either. Or the fact that urban density is higher here so you don't lose as much energy to transportation.

masklinn 9y ago
First paragraph reminds me of what I read on Australia, uninsulated houses and slatted surface seem very common there as well.

jdavis703 9y ago

I grew up in Virgina without air conditioning. Living in coastal California now, summers are actually nice, but you won't die in most parts of the South without AC.

brownbat 9y ago
Heat index in northern VA was 105 a few weeks ago. You might not die but you might want to.
cptskippy 9y ago
Have you been to parts of the south other than VA? I spent summers in FL and it's tolerable but many of the other states aren't. Georgia is incredibly hot and humid for much of the year and while you won't die from it, you might just lay in a pool of your own bodily fluids wishing you were. The same can be said for South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi.