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I would love someone more knowledgeable to chime in, but my experience in Australia has taught me that we don't build for long term heat waves. My house can han

by ehnto 5y ago

I would love someone more knowledgeable to chime in, but my experience in Australia has taught me that we don't build for long term heat waves. My house can handle a day at 45c, but a week? Everything gets heat soaked, even the cold water tap is hot. Australians rarely have basements, but I wonder if this could be part of the solution long term. I have seen homes in the desert with huge concrete slabs inteded to operate as heatsinks/regulators, perhaps a concrete basement could do the same thing.

jandrewrogers 5y ago
The Pacific Northwest is not built for heatwaves at all. It has a very mild and stable climate as such things go due to the geography. There simply isn't a need to deal with much heat. A serious "heatwave" in Seattle is 30-35°C, and they pass as quickly as they come. Even if homes had a lot of thermal ballast by construction, long runs of high temperatures like now require air conditioning. Something like 25% of homes, mostly newer ones, have air conditioning. It simply has not been needed historically. If there are a few days of 30°C temperatures, you opened a window. This current weather system is running much hotter and much longer than traditional Seattle summer weather.