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Improving air conditioner efficiency could reduce worldwide temps

nytimes.com

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Re: Improving air conditioner efficiency could reduce worldwide temps

#311

Post by microcolonel »

grogenaut wrote: post #308
microcolonel wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, there really is something objectively attractive about handsome clothing. Well made and handsome clothing, especially that which obscures the aesthetic weaknesses of the wearer, is a global concept. Hoodie and jeans is an okay uniform inside a business (though I would argue that if they're not well-kept, it lowers the standards of the people in the office), but in customer-facing roles I think it's inappropriate.…

Attractive clothing can be anything... Is a Sari attractive? A Burka? Timberland farmer's gear? A Police Uniform? It's about the craftmanship and the cut accentuating the human form and hiding the imperfections (or with true artistry showing them and pulling it off even better). You say that "face customers with hoodies, t-shirts and jeans" except this is exactly hooter's uniforms. everyone wears uniform t-shirts. Th…

> A suit is not inherently more powerful than a Thawb or a Kimono.

I did not say that, I explicitly said that the quality and fit of the clothing is of primary importance. You could make the argument that the ceiling is much higher for Kimono, they seem to start around ¥200,000 JPY, and going up from there not for the faint of heart. Thawbs are sorta self-limiting, little can genuinely be done for their quality, about as limited as the range for white dress shirts; some have weird things like false lapels.

Re: Improving air conditioner efficiency could reduce worldwide temps

#312

Post by LeifCarrotson »

jwilk wrote: post #157
LeifCarrotson wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two questions: 1. How did you notice this? 2. Why does it matter, or when would I want to use one instead of the other for reasons other than being technically correct?

They look different in my font: https://i.imgur.com/gjTkaa6.png

Ah. Practically identical in mine:

http://i.imgur.com/3YcxWIy.png

Re: Improving air conditioner efficiency could reduce worldwide temps

#313

Post by enraged_camel »

emodendroket wrote: post #291
Consultant32452 wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you tell when the US had a Democrat controlled Congress by looking at this global greenhouse gas emissions per year chart? I can't. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emiss... I'm not saying there's no reason to worry, but there's also no reason to pretend that having the Democrats move pollution overseas solves global problems.

The Democrats are basically Republicans-lite and have been for decades but that's neither here nor there with regard to the point I'm making.

>>The Democrats are basically Republicans-lite and have been for decades

Democrats don't want to abolish every regulation possible in order to maximize corporate profits.

Democrats don't want to cut healthcare and entitlement programs in order to give massive tax cuts to rich people.

Democrats don't want to defund Planned Parenthood and are not rabidly anti-abortion.

Democrats don't want to ban gay marriage.

Democrats don't work their asses off trying to suppress minority votes.

Democrats don't want to prevent refugees from war zones from seeking shelter in the United States.

I can go on.

Basically, the idea that Democrats and Republicans are nearly identical is popular only amongst people who don't pay attention to politics because they are wealthy and privileged enough to not be directly affected by any of it. But if you ask a low-income woman, for example, I guaran-fuckin-tee you that she will gladly educate you on the finer details of decades of Republican oppression of women.

Re: Improving air conditioner efficiency could reduce worldwide temps

#314

Post by julianj »

gnaritas wrote: post #193
julianj wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As other nations continue to grow and industrialize, the issue then doesn't really go away. It seems that the problem would just move around the globe until we hit critical mass. The only solutions I see to this issue are to be more efficient with the resources we do have and/or move to another planet and start the process over again. Since moving to another planet is not something we will likely be able to do with b…

> As other nations continue to grow and industrialize, the issue then doesn't really go away. Sure it does, as each national industrializes it solves part of the problem; when they all do it, problem gone. > It seems that the problem would just move around the globe until we hit critical mass. You really haven't thought this through.

I can see why you'd think that. However, industrialization does not occur overnight. > You really haven't thought this through. I don't know why you would say this. Do you think that Earth will never reach a point where its population exceeds the planet's capacity to support it?

Re: Improving air conditioner efficiency could reduce worldwide temps

#315

Post by johngalt »

Large number of comments here acting like A/C is some wasteful extravagance, or that people who live in warm climates should just move or 'get used to the heat'.

I don't mean to spoil the moralizing fun here, but cooling uses less energy than heating. So perhaps you should put on a sweater when it drops below freezing where you live. You'll get used to it. Or you could move.

Re: Improving air conditioner efficiency could reduce worldwide temps

#316

Post by maxxxxx »

astrodust wrote: post #281
rplst8 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good insulation is pretty standard here in the US for everything built in the last two decades or so. That said, fiberglass insulation mostly only helps against convection cooling/heating. I.e. through the movement of air. Summertime heat is mostly conductive and radiative i.e. near infrared. Insulation doesn't do much to stop that. Shade trees however help this big time. A large tree placed in the right spot to shad…

If anything they're over-insulated which can create other problems like a lack of fresh air, mold and fungus problems, and poor air quality in general. The more you insulate the more you need to ensure you have proper ventilation, which is a sort of paradox.

You can insulate properly and still have air flow. It's not that hard.

Re: Improving air conditioner efficiency could reduce worldwide temps

#317

Post by grogenaut »

microcolonel wrote: post #311
grogenaut wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Attractive clothing can be anything... Is a Sari attractive? A Burka? Timberland farmer's gear? A Police Uniform? It's about the craftmanship and the cut accentuating the human form and hiding the imperfections (or with true artistry showing them and pulling it off even better). You say that "face customers with hoodies, t-shirts and jeans" except this is exactly hooter's uniforms. everyone wears uniform t-shirts. Th…

> A suit is not inherently more powerful than a Thawb or a Kimono. I did not say that, I explicitly said that the quality and fit of the clothing is of primary importance. You could make the argument that the ceiling is much higher for Kimono, they seem to start around ¥200,000 JPY, and going up from there not for the faint of heart. Thawbs are sorta self-limiting, little can genuinely be done for their quality, abou…

Why are you so fixated on the price?

Re: Improving air conditioner efficiency could reduce worldwide temps

#318

Post by EvanAnderson »

mjfern wrote: post #208
EvanAnderson wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had some major frustrations with poor reliability of the blower motor in a 14 SEER HVAC system (installed in 2006) with a brushless DC motor. I've replaced the motor 3 times in 10 years (conveniently failing shortly after the warranty expired each time). Had I not done the work myself that would have been between $600 and $800 per replacement. Brushless / electronically commutated DC motors are pretty interestin…

Who's the manufacturer?

The air handler is a Bryant. The motors have been a General Electric X13 (the original patent-holder for the X13 electronically commutated constant-torque PWM motor controller), a Regal Beloit "Evergreen" X13 OEM replacement, and now a Nidec X13 motor.

These motors are microcontroller-based. Apparently there was a rash of bad GE X13 motors in the early 2000's traced to bad thermistors. Unfortunately the board is potted in an insulating compound that makes board-level repair rather impractical.

My first motor's controller failed after about 8 years. It was cheaper to just buy a new motor vs. replacing only the controller. The second motor's rotor started grinding against the stator after about 13 months. I pulled the controller from that motor and installed it on the first motor (since it was near-perfect duplicate of the original motor). That ran for 14 months before the second controller failed.

I've been running the third (Nidec) motor for about 2 months. I'll be interested to see how to holds up long-term.

Re: Improving air conditioner efficiency could reduce worldwide temps

#319

Post by microcolonel »

grogenaut wrote: post #317
microcolonel wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A suit is not inherently more powerful than a Thawb or a Kimono. I did not say that, I explicitly said that the quality and fit of the clothing is of primary importance. You could make the argument that the ceiling is much higher for Kimono, they seem to start around ¥200,000 JPY, and going up from there not for the faint of heart. Thawbs are sorta self-limiting, little can genuinely be done for their quality, abou…

Why are you so fixated on the price?

I am not fixated on price, I mentioned it once. But if you press me on the kimono (which is a very broad category, but I'll assume we're talking about the dressier types), I'd say that the fact that normal people are willing to pay these prices means that it means something to them.

Re: Improving air conditioner efficiency could reduce worldwide temps

#320

Post by [deleted] »

strommen wrote: post #220
rb808 wrote: post #7

Half the article wasn't about a/c efficiency it was that HFC is more of a greenhouse gas than CO2, and was agreed to be phased out. Is there really an HFC replacement - what is it? I wasnt aware.

Can't believe I had to scroll way down to find a comment that actually understood the article! There are new refrigerants called HFOs that are chemically-similar to HFCs, but do not exhibit the greenhouse effect. Ammonia and propane also work, and are commonly used in commercial refrigeration today.

[deleted]
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