5 ms·

Is it really a problem? A/C is the dumb easiest thing to solve with renewable energy. We need most A/C when it's day and the sun is shining - much less need whe

Is it really a problem? A/C is the dumb easiest thing to solve with renewable energy. We need most A/C when it's day and the sun is shining - much less need when it's dark or cloudy - so consumption almost matches supply of solar power. With some shift at the evening... yeah between some 6pm and 9pm there's still a lot of A/C demand but little to no solar... but this is the lowest hanging fruit for the most minimal amounts of deployed battery storage.

jochem9 2y ago
Proper insulation and blasting the AC during solar excess could also be a way to shift the evening demand.
cwalv 2y ago
It's only a problem if you're into virtue signalling your green cred by "swearing off air conditioning." There is a ton of low hanging fruit to make cooling more efficient, but people just don't consider it worth the cost (esp considering the opportunity cost vs thinking about almost anything else).
- hiddencost 2y ago
  You must live in a deeply hostile world if you think that's how people function.
  - t-writescode 2y ago
    in the PNW, where a lot of people live in condos, it is not unheard of for HOAs (which basically all condos have) to be against the more efficient air conditioners and to force everyone to use the lowest efficiency inside-house, single or dual hose ones.
    - anovikov 2y ago
      Why? Do they make a commission on electricity bills?
      - SpicyLemonZest 2y ago
        I'm not defending the practice, but a lot of HOAs prioritize aesthetics, and retrofitting AC into an existing unit is always going to end up with some kind of visible external machinery that may not harmonize with the existing design.
      - monknomo 2y ago
        They don't like how the in-window unit ones look, and don't like how the heat pump external units look and/or don't want to pay to retrofit anything It's pure aesthetics
  - sunshowers 2y ago
    This was sadly seen at the Paris Olympics. The village didn't have A/C for so-called environmental reasons, and teams from rich countries dragged portable units in because they (reasonably) did not accept the facilities provided. It's one of those things that chips away at one's beliefs about the human spirit.
    - vladms 2y ago
      I have heard enough discussions about the Paris Olympics budget that I would consider that A/C was not provided for purely cost reasons. I do agree myself that A/C is a luxury in most cases (at least in Paris) and many other things that would help the environment should be done before installing that.
      - sunshowers 2y ago
        This is a common belief but is actually not true. Heating is a necessity, and resistive heating is a very inefficient use of electricity. Heat pumps (using energy to pump heat up a temperature gradient) yields far greater coefficients of performance. Once you have a heat pump, you might as well use it to also cool things down in the summer. All of France takes a break in August because it's too hot to work. This is only going to get worse with climate change.
        vladms 2y ago
        Not sure what is "no true" from my comment as you were not specific, but at least to the suggestion of installing heat-pumps in Paris, this will be a much bigger investment than putting "some A/C". I don't think such an investment is more beneficial than (for example) transforming more of the side street parking to bike lanes (which seems to be what is happening). What is too hot for you? For me an average a mean high temperature of 25 deg Celsius in August is reasonable (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Paris https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Paris).
        sunshowers 2y ago
lxm 2y ago
Production and consumption might match, but the grid throughput might not.

jochem9 2y ago

Proper insulation and blasting the AC during solar excess could also be a way to shift the evening demand.

cwalv 2y ago

It's only a problem if you're into virtue signalling your green cred by "swearing off air conditioning." There is a ton of low hanging fruit to make cooling more efficient, but people just don't consider it worth the cost (esp considering the opportunity cost vs thinking about almost anything else).

hiddencost 2y ago
You must live in a deeply hostile world if you think that's how people function.
- t-writescode 2y ago
  in the PNW, where a lot of people live in condos, it is not unheard of for HOAs (which basically all condos have) to be against the more efficient air conditioners and to force everyone to use the lowest efficiency inside-house, single or dual hose ones.
  - anovikov 2y ago
    Why? Do they make a commission on electricity bills?
    - SpicyLemonZest 2y ago
      I'm not defending the practice, but a lot of HOAs prioritize aesthetics, and retrofitting AC into an existing unit is always going to end up with some kind of visible external machinery that may not harmonize with the existing design.
    - monknomo 2y ago
      They don't like how the in-window unit ones look, and don't like how the heat pump external units look and/or don't want to pay to retrofit anything It's pure aesthetics
- sunshowers 2y ago
  This was sadly seen at the Paris Olympics. The village didn't have A/C for so-called environmental reasons, and teams from rich countries dragged portable units in because they (reasonably) did not accept the facilities provided. It's one of those things that chips away at one's beliefs about the human spirit.
  - vladms 2y ago
    I have heard enough discussions about the Paris Olympics budget that I would consider that A/C was not provided for purely cost reasons. I do agree myself that A/C is a luxury in most cases (at least in Paris) and many other things that would help the environment should be done before installing that.
    - sunshowers 2y ago
      This is a common belief but is actually not true. Heating is a necessity, and resistive heating is a very inefficient use of electricity. Heat pumps (using energy to pump heat up a temperature gradient) yields far greater coefficients of performance. Once you have a heat pump, you might as well use it to also cool things down in the summer. All of France takes a break in August because it's too hot to work. This is only going to get worse with climate change.
      - vladms 2y ago
        Not sure what is "no true" from my comment as you were not specific, but at least to the suggestion of installing heat-pumps in Paris, this will be a much bigger investment than putting "some A/C". I don't think such an investment is more beneficial than (for example) transforming more of the side street parking to bike lanes (which seems to be what is happening). What is too hot for you? For me an average a mean high temperature of 25 deg Celsius in August is reasonable (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Paris https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Paris).
        sunshowers 2y ago

lxm 2y ago

Production and consumption might match, but the grid throughput might not.