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With that same line of thinking we should all find different jobs, as giant data centers and the software industry is far more detrimental to the planet than an

by xfitm3 4y ago

With that same line of thinking we should all find different jobs, as giant data centers and the software industry is far more detrimental to the planet than any amount of air conditioning.

cpursley 4y ago
Do you have stats to back up that data centers use more power than ac? Also, have you considered all the labor saved by computing technology?
- xyzzyz 4y ago
  Data centers use so much energy that they need their own enormous AC systems to remove that heat from the building. Also, have you considered all the labor enabled by AC? Economic development would not be possible in tropical regions without AC, as people simply cannot work effectively in suffocating heat.
- xfitm3 4y ago
  What does labor have to do it? Are we sure less labor is a good thing? People need to work.
  - cpursley 4y ago
    Labor != physical work. People still work, just much more efficiency. Should we all have stayed farmers? Because that's what 97% of everyone used to be before the industrial revolution. I'll take the technical advances, including AC.
- fuzzfactor 4y ago
  In a hot climate where people overwhelmingly are using residential air conditioning, the power used by the data equipment is dwarfed by the air conditioning needed to keep the electronics from overheating. Sometimes not even such hot climates. In an indoor insulated environment all electrical equipment produces heat very efficiently when it runs and its Wattage rating can give you an idea of the maximum heat that might be seen. Appropriate A/C will be rated to remove the nominal amount of heat, often not needing to handle the absolute maximum. On the A/C the high amperage refrigerant compressor/condenser unit, which can only do its job outdoors, and the much more economically operated air circulation motor are drawing electricity and producing additional heat of their own, but ideally they are well separated from having their heat enter the indoor space, by proper location, piping, and ducting. Anyway, the electrical cooling does not work as efficiently as the the electrical heating so you pay more to cool the gear than it costs to run it.

by xfitm3 4y ago

With that same line of thinking we should all find different jobs, as giant data centers and the software industry is far more detrimental to the planet than any amount of air conditioning.

cpursley 4y ago

Do you have stats to back up that data centers use more power than ac? Also, have you considered all the labor saved by computing technology?

xyzzyz 4y ago
Data centers use so much energy that they need their own enormous AC systems to remove that heat from the building. Also, have you considered all the labor enabled by AC? Economic development would not be possible in tropical regions without AC, as people simply cannot work effectively in suffocating heat.
xfitm3 4y ago
What does labor have to do it? Are we sure less labor is a good thing? People need to work.
- cpursley 4y ago
  Labor != physical work. People still work, just much more efficiency. Should we all have stayed farmers? Because that's what 97% of everyone used to be before the industrial revolution. I'll take the technical advances, including AC.
fuzzfactor 4y ago
In a hot climate where people overwhelmingly are using residential air conditioning, the power used by the data equipment is dwarfed by the air conditioning needed to keep the electronics from overheating. Sometimes not even such hot climates. In an indoor insulated environment all electrical equipment produces heat very efficiently when it runs and its Wattage rating can give you an idea of the maximum heat that might be seen. Appropriate A/C will be rated to remove the nominal amount of heat, often not needing to handle the absolute maximum. On the A/C the high amperage refrigerant compressor/condenser unit, which can only do its job outdoors, and the much more economically operated air circulation motor are drawing electricity and producing additional heat of their own, but ideally they are well separated from having their heat enter the indoor space, by proper location, piping, and ducting. Anyway, the electrical cooling does not work as efficiently as the the electrical heating so you pay more to cool the gear than it costs to run it.