8 ms·

Why do articles like these never mention the fact that air conditioners are heat pumps, and therefore quite a bit more efficient at cooling than oil or electric

Why do articles like these never mention the fact that air conditioners are heat pumps, and therefore quite a bit more efficient at cooling than oil or electric furnaces are at heating? I rarely see similar articles bemoaning the carbon emissions associated with heating, say, wealthy New England apartments. It's always those damn poor people in the South ruining the environment.

mrguyorama 8y ago
I think people have an assumption that sweltering heat may be uncomfortable, but is "less likely" to kill you compared to 20 degree weather. I don't know if that's even remotely true. Also keep in mind the vast majority of people heating their New England apartments are NOT wealthy, by the simple fact that the majority of New Englanders are not wealthy
- deleted 8y ago
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panzagl 8y ago
The also have important secondary uses for controlling humidity and air quality- I may add A/C to my house just to filter out the smoke that is increasingly common every summer.
tristor 8y ago
Your comment is pretty much on point. It's unfortunate, but true, that most of the environmental hand-wringing is coming from people who live /worse/ lifestyles for the environment than those they are indicting, and there's definitely a cultural elitism aspect as part of it as well. Somewhat ironically, there is a strong correlation between the type of people who hand-wring about the environment and opposition to nuclear energy despite it being safer and more efficient than any other form of energy generation currently. It'd be nice if people aligned their principles and policy positions with what they say, but practicing what you preach has rarely ever been in vogue.
Xarodon 8y ago
therefore quite a bit more efficient at cooling than oil or electric furnaces are at heating? To be pedantic, nothing is more energy efficient than electric heat. All of the electricity that's lost due to inefficiencies in the device turns into heat anyways. Electric heat is the closest thing to 100% efficient we'll ever get. Whether it's economical, or the best choice is a different matter, but it's certainly energy efficient.
- jhayward 8y ago
  > To be pedantic, nothing is more energy efficient than electric heat. No, this is not true, if you are referring to electrical resistance heating. Heat pumps transfer energy from one source to another. For home heating, for instance, they are about 5 times more efficient than resistance heating.
  - sbradford26 8y ago
    Yes a heat pump for heating is very efficient when the outside temperature is above a certain temperature(aka there is heat to pump). But running a heat pump as an air conditioner is not nearly as efficient. In the case of heating any losses in the system usually add more heat into the system which is beneficial, when cooling though losses still add heat to the system which is the opposite of what you want.
    - SigmundA 8y ago
      In the case of geothermal heat pumps they work well regardless of outside temperature and are even more efficient at both heating and cooling. The nice thing about cooling, its greatest demand typically coincides with the best time to collect solar energy. Solar is perfect for offsetting the a/c, they are a great combo in sunny warm climates.
      - sbradford26 8y ago
        Geothermal definitely helps overall efficiency. Sadly the upfront cost is still pretty high. Also solar helps in other ways because it makes it so less heat is absorbed into the roof of the house.
A2017U1 8y ago
You could also ask why they never mention waste heat and the numerous economically useful processes that already generate it everywhere. A whole apartment block could be heated with a GPU cluster. There's no dual use for air conditioning.
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mrguyorama 8y ago

I think people have an assumption that sweltering heat may be uncomfortable, but is "less likely" to kill you compared to 20 degree weather. I don't know if that's even remotely true. Also keep in mind the vast majority of people heating their New England apartments are NOT wealthy, by the simple fact that the majority of New Englanders are not wealthy

deleted 8y ago
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panzagl 8y ago

The also have important secondary uses for controlling humidity and air quality- I may add A/C to my house just to filter out the smoke that is increasingly common every summer.

tristor 8y ago

Your comment is pretty much on point. It's unfortunate, but true, that most of the environmental hand-wringing is coming from people who live /worse/ lifestyles for the environment than those they are indicting, and there's definitely a cultural elitism aspect as part of it as well. Somewhat ironically, there is a strong correlation between the type of people who hand-wring about the environment and opposition to nuclear energy despite it being safer and more efficient than any other form of energy generation currently. It'd be nice if people aligned their principles and policy positions with what they say, but practicing what you preach has rarely ever been in vogue.

Xarodon 8y ago

therefore quite a bit more efficient at cooling than oil or electric furnaces are at heating? To be pedantic, nothing is more energy efficient than electric heat. All of the electricity that's lost due to inefficiencies in the device turns into heat anyways. Electric heat is the closest thing to 100% efficient we'll ever get. Whether it's economical, or the best choice is a different matter, but it's certainly energy efficient.

jhayward 8y ago
> To be pedantic, nothing is more energy efficient than electric heat. No, this is not true, if you are referring to electrical resistance heating. Heat pumps transfer energy from one source to another. For home heating, for instance, they are about 5 times more efficient than resistance heating.
- sbradford26 8y ago
  Yes a heat pump for heating is very efficient when the outside temperature is above a certain temperature(aka there is heat to pump). But running a heat pump as an air conditioner is not nearly as efficient. In the case of heating any losses in the system usually add more heat into the system which is beneficial, when cooling though losses still add heat to the system which is the opposite of what you want.
  - SigmundA 8y ago
    In the case of geothermal heat pumps they work well regardless of outside temperature and are even more efficient at both heating and cooling. The nice thing about cooling, its greatest demand typically coincides with the best time to collect solar energy. Solar is perfect for offsetting the a/c, they are a great combo in sunny warm climates.
    - sbradford26 8y ago
      Geothermal definitely helps overall efficiency. Sadly the upfront cost is still pretty high. Also solar helps in other ways because it makes it so less heat is absorbed into the roof of the house.

A2017U1 8y ago

You could also ask why they never mention waste heat and the numerous economically useful processes that already generate it everywhere. A whole apartment block could be heated with a GPU cluster. There's no dual use for air conditioning.

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