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The far-reaching effects of air conditioning

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Re: The far-reaching effects of air conditioning

#131

Post by dpark »

tunap wrote: post #129
dpark wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a distinction without a difference. Removing heat from the interior air is the same thing as cooling the interior air. If you mean that the air conditioner doesn't produce a magical substance called "cool", that's true, but no one claimed that it does. The mechanism transfers heat with the effect of cooling the interior.

Just thought I would try to illuminate a prevalent technical misconception.

I get that, but he didn't make an incorrect or misleading claim. And honestly, most people on HN probably understand that air conditioners move heat.

Re: The far-reaching effects of air conditioning

#132

Post by dionidium »

cafard wrote: post #111
arethuza wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Humidity and/or wind? I've noticed temperatures in Scotland on mountains feeling much colder than lower temperatures in the Alps.

Largely humidity. In Denver, I could run for an hour in direct sunlight with the temperature about 30 C. In Washington, DC, that would have been suicidal.

Yes, but DC is famous for its humidity, whereas Phoenix is known for its "dry heat."

Re: The far-reaching effects of air conditioning

#133

Post by LyndsySimon »

johnchristopher wrote: post #26
pitaj wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better have it too cold and people where extra clothing than have people sweating themselves. You can always put more clothes on, you can't take off your skin.

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).

> Ever try coding with mittens :-) ?

No, but I've seen PowerPoint presentations that were designed by someone wearing mittens...

Re: The far-reaching effects of air conditioning

#134

Post by dreadpirate15 »

VLM wrote: post #115
ishi wrote: post #8

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…

"houses are now built with very little regard to insulation" I find that hard to believe. Where I live the local muni delegates to a state wide "uniform dwelling building code" I googled it for laughs and the minimum ceiling insulation as of the '09 revision was R-49 which is about 14 inches of fiberglass. My concrete block basement walls met code 50 years ago at about R-2 insulation value, as of '09 the mandatory mi…

Central house fan my friend. Not too difficult to install if you're comfortable cutting sheetrock and doing a minimal amount of wiring. Run it for 15 minutes and you'll have your house cooled down considerably.

I do agree that having the house designed for good airflow in the first place would be ideal.

Re: The far-reaching effects of air conditioning

#135

Post by jaboutboul »

Odd that no one here has made any comments on the correlation of the massive boom in air conditioning in the last 30 years around the world and climate change.

Wouldn't it seem like having an ever increasing number of these things, humming constantly in both hemispheres all throughout the year and generating loads of hot air and greenhouse gases, is a significant contributor (even maybe main contributor) to the global rise in temperature?

Re: The far-reaching effects of air conditioning

#136

Post by Cass »

neals wrote: post #103

Let's not forget about health and the breeding ground for pathogens and bacteria that AC's are. I used to get really bad colds and coughs during summer, when the AC's went on. I now carry a spray that puts bacteria in the air that displace other bacteria and no colds and coughs anymore. But that's not mainstream. There's probably a lot of sick people out there, thanks to AC.

The common cold is caused by a virus, not by bacteria. You can get the bacteria that cause Legionnaire's disease building up in the fluid in air conditioning units and then getting vaporized into the air, but I don't see how spraying more bacteria around is going to stop you from breathing in the ones the AC is blowing into your face.

I'd be very curious about which bacteria you have in your spray, and which bacteria they're supposed to be displacing.

Re: The far-reaching effects of air conditioning

#137

Post by nemo44x »

jaseemabid wrote: post #2

Unless you have lived in the tropical humid heat, you wont be able to relate to this. Moving to NYC recently and living without an AC or even a fan feels so glorious. I bet 10% of my brain was constantly fighting the heat back when I was in south of India.

When did you move to NYC? It hasn't gotten hot yet this year but you'll see that living without an AC or a fan is hell here. The inside of apartments (especially older ones which most are) gets amazingly hot and it stays that way once it heats up outside.

It has been a rather cool spring and we haven't had a heat wave yet but rest assured once we do you will find inside your apartment will be unbearably hot and humid. And it will stay that way well into autumn.

The city itself gets hot too with a lack of airflow and tons of AC units pushing out heat and exhaust from vehicles and the Subway as well. The Subway stations will be unbearably hot as well since the train is air conditioned and has lots of heat exhaust from this and its regular operation.

Luckily apartments are small enough that a decent window AC can usually keep an entire unit comfortable and only has to be run when you're home.

Re: The far-reaching effects of air conditioning

#138

Post by nemo44x »

flexie wrote: post #4
jaseemabid wrote: post #2

Unless you have lived in the tropical humid heat, you wont be able to relate to this. Moving to NYC recently and living without an AC or even a fan feels so glorious. I bet 10% of my brain was constantly fighting the heat back when I was in south of India.

Funny, I remember coming to NYC from Scandinavia thinking it was so humid and warm and impossible to get anything done during the summer months. Guess it really depends on what you are used to. Then, in the winter, the old NYC apartments were so dry and warm because of the central heat that typically couldn't be regulated from the radiators in the apartments. They just blasted on all winter and the only way to adjust…

It is humid and warm in NYC but it hasn't been this year yet. But it will come and the inside of apartments will be amplified.

Most building are side by side with no windows on the side. And unites tend to only have windows on a single side which means it's impossible to get airflow.

As for radiators some can be adjusted but many are binary, either on or off. You could always turn one off for awhile too. They stay warm for quite awhile when off.

Re: The far-reaching effects of air conditioning

#139

Post by saint_fiasco »

exodust wrote: post #46
superasn wrote: post #31

Throughout the article I was waiting for the "But.." As in some how it also deteriorated the global weather, caused some unknown sort of pollution, etc. It was good to see that Air conditioning has only improved the world and has no side-effects.

Massive energy consumption to the point of overloading power grids on hot days continues to be a problem in some areas. Massive increase in cost of electricity is due largely to the infrastructure needs of meeting peak demand events caused by sudden widespread AC use. Those who don't use AC in their homes are still paying higher prices in order that the system can cater for the people who use AC.

I think that last one is fair, because we all benefit economically from the productivity increase. Think of it as trickle-sideways economics.

Re: The far-reaching effects of air conditioning

#140

Post by QuarterReptile »

arethuza wrote: post #48
eBombzor wrote: post #25

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!

Maybe I'm being dense and saying the same thing as you, but it's more about the difference from outside to inside. In the mid Atlantic of the US, 22C can be pretty pleasant, but in the South turning it below 26C is a much more pleasant setting. Meanwhile, spend time in Southern China and you'll be laughed at for going below 30C, because it makes you nearly unable to go outside. If I feel like the humidity outside is going to condense on me when I take the dog out, I'm cooling my house too aggressively.

Similarly, I don't heat above 15C in the winter. That way, getting dressed to go outside is less complex than suiting up for a space walk.

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