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In my region of south eastern Canada the summers seem to be hotter and seem to be lasting longer. Today for example 27C and 80% humidity. Normally 15C to 20C an
by dghughes 8y ago
In my region of south eastern Canada the summers seem to be hotter and seem to be lasting longer. Today for example 27C and 80% humidity. Normally 15C to 20C and low humidity would be normal this time of year.
With the cost of fuel oil (common here) many people have installed supplemental heating in the form of heat pumps. The side benefit is they also have cooling capabilities.
My point, the local power company said in a news release power use during the summer took a big jump. But even with all the A/C units in use power use is still 20% lower than in winter, heating uses much more energy (and many people also supplement with wood).
- avip 8y agoThat's because your winter is more extreme. In any modestly hot country, electricity consumption peaks in summer.
- jrace 8y agoAlso not every house in Canada has AC....but ALL have heating.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- ant6n 8y agoThe delta for AC cooling seems to be <10C, the delta for heating could be up to 50C. So it seems pretty sad that the energy consumption is only 20% lower.
- C4stor 8y agoExcept your house is heated by literally anything that's doing anything inside it (like your own body, cooking, using a computer, taking a shower, ...), meaning it never reaches the outside temperature except if it's inhabited for a long period of time. Meaning cooling have to compensate for every bit of activity, whereas heating doesn't.
- dghughes 8y agoPlus people here have to learn that insulation is for hot or cold. Many people open their windows on hot days then complain it's hot in their houses. It wouldn't take as much energy if people would close their windows. And my dad leaves the AC on all day. I said just turn it on ten minutes before you go in the room it will probably do the same and be cheaper.
- ant6n 8y agoHeating in Canada will use ~kW, in the summer I'm not using any device in that order of magnitude, including humans (which are what, 100W?). If I remember correctly, the energy use of heating/cooling is related to the square of the temperature difference, so if ACs with a low temperature delta use nearly as much energy as heating does in winter, with its higher delta, it indicates that there may be a lot of waste.
- dorfsmay 8y agoWhat about lighting? In Calgary it's dark from 18:00 to 09:00 in December, but only from 23:00 to 05:30 in July.
- beojan 8y agoIf you have modern energy-efficient lighting, it uses very little power.
- dotancohen 8y agoIf you have traditional filament bulbs, it supplements the heating in winter!