4 ms·

Kind of, yes? But people also just sat around or slept during the day for months out of the year to avoid the heat. I don't think going back 100 years in progre

Kind of, yes? But people also just sat around or slept during the day for months out of the year to avoid the heat. I don't think going back 100 years in progress is really the right move, at least not for me. Peak AC need matches peak solar panel output. It's a problem we know how to solve.

soperj 4y ago
and it just dumps the heat into the atmosphere...
- polyterative 4y ago
  energy is energy
  - newsclues 4y ago
    Not quite. Oil in the ground is potential energy. Oil being burned for heat to create power to run AC, is energy. By not using energy by careful design, we can avoid wasting energy.
- masklinn 4y ago
  > and it just dumps the heat into the atmosphere... That's just moving the heat the sun dumped a few meters one way or the other, across a wall. It does add heat (the energy the AC needs to move the heat around) but when you have the sun dumping 1kW/m2 on the surroundings, it's going to be pretty anecdotal.
  - xxpor 4y ago
    Depends on the exact AC, but they usually (IIRC) have COF of about 3. So if the AC is moving 3000 W of heat, it will add about 1000 W of heat from the compressor/fan etc. But compared to the amount of energy needed to heat the atmosphere any appreciable amount, completely trivial.
    - Spivak 4y ago
      Right but where the source of that 1000W came from is what matters. Assume your building has solar panels and you disconnect yourself from the grid. You turn on your AC to move the 3000W of heat the sun is blasting you with and draw 1000W from your panels to do it. You don't count the 3000W because that energy was already there, we just moved it, but that's also true of the 1000W! So in a hypothetical solarpunk future of if your area is all solar during the day there's no guilt to using the AC.
      - soperj 4y ago
        except for how the elements for the solar/battery were mined.
      - bumby 4y ago
        >that energy was already there, we just moved it, but that's also true of the 1000W! Isn't this also the case for any type of energy (possible exception of nuclear)? Fossil fuel energy is "already there", just bound up in chemical bonds. The analogy is doubly true when comparing it to stored solar energy in batteries. The more important feature is the systemic effects of the energy conversion and transport.
selfhoster11 4y ago
Why not just rest, then? We could all use some rest in today's "productivity" obsessed world.
- jackmott42 4y ago
  Prepare for even more shortages then.
  - shreyshnaccount 4y ago
    Most shortages have very less to do with productivity and alot to do with money

soperj 4y ago

and it just dumps the heat into the atmosphere...

polyterative 4y ago
energy is energy
- newsclues 4y ago
  Not quite. Oil in the ground is potential energy. Oil being burned for heat to create power to run AC, is energy. By not using energy by careful design, we can avoid wasting energy.
masklinn 4y ago
> and it just dumps the heat into the atmosphere... That's just moving the heat the sun dumped a few meters one way or the other, across a wall. It does add heat (the energy the AC needs to move the heat around) but when you have the sun dumping 1kW/m2 on the surroundings, it's going to be pretty anecdotal.
- xxpor 4y ago
  Depends on the exact AC, but they usually (IIRC) have COF of about 3. So if the AC is moving 3000 W of heat, it will add about 1000 W of heat from the compressor/fan etc. But compared to the amount of energy needed to heat the atmosphere any appreciable amount, completely trivial.
  - Spivak 4y ago
    Right but where the source of that 1000W came from is what matters. Assume your building has solar panels and you disconnect yourself from the grid. You turn on your AC to move the 3000W of heat the sun is blasting you with and draw 1000W from your panels to do it. You don't count the 3000W because that energy was already there, we just moved it, but that's also true of the 1000W! So in a hypothetical solarpunk future of if your area is all solar during the day there's no guilt to using the AC.
    - soperj 4y ago
      except for how the elements for the solar/battery were mined.
    - bumby 4y ago
      >that energy was already there, we just moved it, but that's also true of the 1000W! Isn't this also the case for any type of energy (possible exception of nuclear)? Fossil fuel energy is "already there", just bound up in chemical bonds. The analogy is doubly true when comparing it to stored solar energy in batteries. The more important feature is the systemic effects of the energy conversion and transport.

selfhoster11 4y ago

Why not just rest, then? We could all use some rest in today's "productivity" obsessed world.

jackmott42 4y ago
Prepare for even more shortages then.
- shreyshnaccount 4y ago
  Most shortages have very less to do with productivity and alot to do with money