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> We don't own an AC, use LED lights everywhere, and always check the power consumption of appliances we buy. > Being aware of your consumptions really helps.

> We don't own an AC, use LED lights everywhere, and always check the power consumption of appliances we buy. > Being aware of your consumptions really helps. A lot of people live in places with summers and winters though, with ACs working through may to september and central heating through november to march.

Sharlin 7y ago
Outside of (sub)tropics AC isn't really needed; it's a luxury. Air-conditioned homes in Europe are still fairly uncommon. As for heating, the unfortunate fact is that most of that is needed due to subpar (or often close to nonexistent) insulation, even in climates where it could make a big difference.
- shantly 7y ago
  Houses in the US haven't been built to be livable without AC (in areas that have highs over 85F or so more than a month a year) in decades. Nor have apartment buildings. You need special attention to floor plan, facing, and to make choices that go the opposite direction of what you do if you have AC and want it to work efficiently, like having really big windows that open, several big doors, and high ceilings. These tend to make your heating less efficient, so there's that problem too. You also need more expensive materials and different/better craftsmanship than has been commonly available to keep the house's interior finishes from deteriorating quickly when subjected to wide seasonal temperature swings. And more maintenance regardless.
  - madhadron 7y ago
    This is the other side of the problem. Much of the construction in the US is a net negative rather than a net positive. I found this recently when buying a house: the majority of houses in the town in question I looked at and said, "I would need to knock fifty thousand dollars off the land value to have this bulldozed before I could build something habitable." It's not financially viable because they are classified as being worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, not negative tens of thousands of dollars.
- zzzcpan 7y ago
  > Outside of (sub)tropics AC isn't really needed Over 26 degrees indoors is when it starts to get unlivable and requires cooling. And without ACs it gets that hot indoors in a lot of the world and in plenty of Europe during summers, not just in tropics.
  - Sharlin 7y ago
    Uncomfortable, perhaps, not unlivable. People somehow managed to live indoors without AC for millennia, and a few billion people are doing so right now despite living in regions where summer temps rise to the low 40s C. Relative humidity also plays a large part. 26 degrees C is nothing in a fairly dry climate.
    - kgwgk 7y ago
      People have also been living for millenia in the tropics without AC.

Sharlin 7y ago

Outside of (sub)tropics AC isn't really needed; it's a luxury. Air-conditioned homes in Europe are still fairly uncommon. As for heating, the unfortunate fact is that most of that is needed due to subpar (or often close to nonexistent) insulation, even in climates where it could make a big difference.

shantly 7y ago
Houses in the US haven't been built to be livable without AC (in areas that have highs over 85F or so more than a month a year) in decades. Nor have apartment buildings. You need special attention to floor plan, facing, and to make choices that go the opposite direction of what you do if you have AC and want it to work efficiently, like having really big windows that open, several big doors, and high ceilings. These tend to make your heating less efficient, so there's that problem too. You also need more expensive materials and different/better craftsmanship than has been commonly available to keep the house's interior finishes from deteriorating quickly when subjected to wide seasonal temperature swings. And more maintenance regardless.
- madhadron 7y ago
  This is the other side of the problem. Much of the construction in the US is a net negative rather than a net positive. I found this recently when buying a house: the majority of houses in the town in question I looked at and said, "I would need to knock fifty thousand dollars off the land value to have this bulldozed before I could build something habitable." It's not financially viable because they are classified as being worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, not negative tens of thousands of dollars.
zzzcpan 7y ago
> Outside of (sub)tropics AC isn't really needed Over 26 degrees indoors is when it starts to get unlivable and requires cooling. And without ACs it gets that hot indoors in a lot of the world and in plenty of Europe during summers, not just in tropics.
- Sharlin 7y ago
  Uncomfortable, perhaps, not unlivable. People somehow managed to live indoors without AC for millennia, and a few billion people are doing so right now despite living in regions where summer temps rise to the low 40s C. Relative humidity also plays a large part. 26 degrees C is nothing in a fairly dry climate.
  - kgwgk 7y ago
    People have also been living for millenia in the tropics without AC.