61–70 of 184 posts
Lee Kuan Yew, founder of modern Singapore: "Air conditioning was a most important invention for us, perhaps one of the signal inventions of history. It changed the nature of civilization by making development possible in the tropics. Without air conditioning you can work only in the cool early-morning hours or at dusk. The first thing I did upon becoming prime minister was to install air conditioners in buildings whe…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Decreasing the AC doesn't mean people will start sweating themselves. 75 - 78 F is perfect but most buildings for some reason turn their ACs all the way down to the 60s. For athletic centers, of course it makes sense. But in big open libraries, lecture halls, places with little activity in general, it's awful. It's especially bad for your health if you live in a hot region like southern California since your body has…
> 75 - 78 F is perfect Like hell it is. I sweat like a pig at 78.
> A study in Phoenix, Arizona, found the hot air pumped out of air conditioning units increased the city's night-time temperature by 2C Often I wish places of business and work places wouldn't turn up the AC so much. I have a jacket at work in Phoenix during the summer because they keep it so cold.
[1] https://asunow.asu.edu/content/excess-heat-air-conditioners-...
The downside of air conditioned homes is that houses are now built with very little regard to insulation and intelligent use of the sun (to warm the house at winter) and the wind (to cool it during summertime). My house has a large, paper-thin southern wall and during the summer it gets so hot that it radiates heat into the house at night. So I have to air-condition my bedroom at night. And the windows are stupidly d…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Decreasing the AC doesn't mean people will start sweating themselves. 75 - 78 F is perfect but most buildings for some reason turn their ACs all the way down to the 60s. For athletic centers, of course it makes sense. But in big open libraries, lecture halls, places with little activity in general, it's awful. It's especially bad for your health if you live in a hot region like southern California since your body has…
In Germany ~70°F (19-20°C) is considered "room temperature". 75°F is too damn warm. My brain pretty much stops working around 77°F.
Lee Kuan Yew, founder of modern Singapore: "Air conditioning was a most important invention for us, perhaps one of the signal inventions of history. It changed the nature of civilization by making development possible in the tropics. Without air conditioning you can work only in the cool early-morning hours or at dusk. The first thing I did upon becoming prime minister was to install air conditioners in buildings whe…
Japan is further ahead, as they have optimized this with a decade-old policy called "Cool Biz". To save energy and money by reducing AC, office workers are allowed to wear more casual clothing in the summer: https://qz.com/465327/ditch-the-tie-and-reduce-the-ac-japans...
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Ever try coding with mittens :-) ? Humor aside, there's a point for me at which even with more clothes the AC is too cold or aggressive and I end up with headaches. Fortunately I am aware of it and I try to be preventive about it (by moving away from the thing).
Bob Cratchit fingerless gloves FTW :-) Seriously though, I live without AC at home (Portland, OR, so not a real hardship) and often wear a cap and vest during the winter. I kinda like having more connection to the outside temperature.
Sure, it's more humid, than, say, San Diego, but it's not humid in the PNW, by any rational means.
There's a reason AC is uncommon up there, because it's really not necessary.
As for heating, that's more of a concern up there, and that's why oil heating is WAY more common there, than, say, Alabama. The opposite is true for cooling, too...
But, as someone else who lived in the PNW, I have to agree with you at least on one front, some good fingerless gloves are basically necessary in the winter.
There is an episode on central heating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y08yBdoFsI
The downside of air conditioned homes is that houses are now built with very little regard to insulation and intelligent use of the sun (to warm the house at winter) and the wind (to cool it during summertime). My house has a large, paper-thin southern wall and during the summer it gets so hot that it radiates heat into the house at night. So I have to air-condition my bedroom at night. And the windows are stupidly d…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Decreasing the AC doesn't mean people will start sweating themselves. 75 - 78 F is perfect but most buildings for some reason turn their ACs all the way down to the 60s. For athletic centers, of course it makes sense. But in big open libraries, lecture halls, places with little activity in general, it's awful. It's especially bad for your health if you live in a hot region like southern California since your body has…
I suspect it very much depends what you are used to - I probably think of 15C as "comfortable" and 25C inside would be sweltering. Having said that I'm in Scotland - the other day we had heavy rain and it was 8C which is weather we could get at any time of the year!