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Heating is far worse than cooling for energy consumption. It just doesn't produce the same moral outrage that AC does. Which is funny, because you can always a
by asfsaf 4y ago
Heating is far worse than cooling for energy consumption. It just doesn't produce the same moral outrage that AC does.
Which is funny, because you can always and universally add an extra layer of clothes to keep warm. You literally don't need heating as long as you forgo internal plumbing. But there is no universal alternative to AC to cool something down and people die all the time from heat exhaustion at home.
- megaman821 4y agoI have noticed this too. It is just AC is perceived as decadent and heating as primitive. It takes a fancy machine to cool your house, but you can heat your house by burning a log. The actual energy expenditure to accomplish temperature change doesn't affect how people how energy intensive people view each method.
- oceanplexian 4y agoI live in the desert and there are tons of alternatives to AC that have been used for thousands of years.you can build structures partially underground, you can use the evaporation of water to cool the air, you can use wind catchers like the ancient Persians did, you can wear different colored clothing (Triple digits is not uncomfortable if you’re wearing light colors), you can sleep during the day and work when it’s cooler, and so on.
- celticninja 4y agoyes you can do all those things, but they only work if you actually do them. Which they dont. They rely on AC instead.
- asfsaf 4y agoJust saw both these comments, and I can only reply to this. To "oceanplexian": Note that I used the word "universal". Evaporative cooling only works in dry climates. And the funny thing about dry climates is that they almost all lack water. I'll never forget the feeling of dread and horror when I saw water fans in Madrid cooling outdoor seating areas. Your desert cooler is an environmental calamity and they should be banned. To "celticninja": Yes you can do all those things but not universally in any climate (which was my point) and where it is possible it's probably an environmental disaster to do so (I can't think of any city in a dry climate in the world that doesn't have a water sustainability problem). You see we rely on AC (to your point), because we've thought the problem through and didn't stop at a shallow understanding. Jeez guys! If your climate is dry enough for swamp coolers to be effective, they're dry enough for solar panels to make sense (if you care about CO2. I don't, I'm on acetaminophen). And it makes a lot more sense than wasting mineral water (i.e. well water).