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How the Air Conditioner Made Modern America

theatlantic.com

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Re: How the Air Conditioner Made Modern America

#51

Post by scott_s »

StavrosK wrote: post #20
qq66 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

97 is not that hot. I've spent months in those temperatures without AC just drinking water. Almost everywhere, AC is truly a luxury.

I just Googled 97 degrees, expecting some large temperature, and it's only 36 degrees! For comparison, it's 40 C here today. Stay out of the sun, sweat a little, you'll be fine. Arabs have it much worse.

The difference that humidity makes cannot be overstated. When it's hot but not humid, sitting in the shade makes a big difference. When it's hot and humid, sitting in the shade just means its not as bright.

Re: How the Air Conditioner Made Modern America

#52

Post by mkr-hn »

lukeschlather wrote: post #46
raldi wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you rephrase your last sentence? I've reread it a few times, and I just can't make heads or tails of it. Thanks!

Powered heating is a fundamental human need in Minnesota. You cannot survive without it. Even in antiquity I can't imagine people surviving without fire. Passive cooling, by contrast, is pretty much adequate (though that's not to say the heat can't kill you if you're out in the sun.) But in any case, when you look at the amount of energy expended on heating, the modest amount expended on cooling is a natural expendit…

Can passive cooling remove moisture from the air? That's essential for anything that wants to replace powered cooling in the southern US.

Re: How the Air Conditioner Made Modern America

#53

Post by chopsueyar »

mmagin wrote: post #47
chopsueyar wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solar panels are expensive and not very efficient and require a decent amount of square footage. Plus, batteries are expensive too and can take up a decent amount of space.

Probably some kind of absorption chiller like this is a more sensible idea for solar powered airconditioning: http://www.solarpanelsplus.com/yazaki-solar-HVAC/

Good link. I have been looking for something like this?

Re: How the Air Conditioner Made Modern America

#54

Post by HN_Addict »

lukeschlather wrote: post #7

>Minneapolis seems like an odd place for the first home air conditioner, but, hey, if you've got the cash, who's to stop you? I'm guessing the author hasn't lived in Minnesota. For one thing, the temperature differential is much higher than in Southern States. It may reach 110 degrees F in Phoenix, but it almost never drops below 32 F. In contrast, Minnesota gets temperatures from 0 F to 90 F. There's also the questi…

This is why I love living in Michigan. Like Minnesota, we get temps from well below freezing up to 100F. Real winters. Real summers. Crisp frost and gorgeous colors in the fall. Spring is worth celebrating.

I won't trade it for Phoenix until I turn 65. But yes, it does make heating, cooling, clothes shopping, and a host of other things a little more difficult than the southern states.

Re: How the Air Conditioner Made Modern America

#55

Post by HN_Addict »

lukeschlather wrote: post #7

>Minneapolis seems like an odd place for the first home air conditioner, but, hey, if you've got the cash, who's to stop you? I'm guessing the author hasn't lived in Minnesota. For one thing, the temperature differential is much higher than in Southern States. It may reach 110 degrees F in Phoenix, but it almost never drops below 32 F. In contrast, Minnesota gets temperatures from 0 F to 90 F. There's also the questi…

This is why I love living in Michigan. Like Minnesota, we get temps from well below freezing up to 100F. Real winters. Real summers. Crisp frost and gorgeous colors in the fall. Spring is worth celebrating.

I won't trade it for Phoenix until I turn 65. But yes, it does make heating, cooling, clothes shopping, and a host of other things a little more difficult than the southern states.

Re: How the Air Conditioner Made Modern America

#56

Post by ido »

asdkl234890 wrote: post #44
cstross wrote: post #39

As a point of note, domestic air conditioning is close to universal in Japan ... but in the UK, less than 3% of dwellings have a/c. Even in parts of southern Europe that get pretty hot, such as Italy and Greece, domestic a/c is relatively uncommon (with penetration in the 20-40% level despite regular 32-42 celsius temperatures on summer). The nature of the housing stock is partly responsible, of course. The average B…

> Even in parts of southern Europe that get pretty hot Mediterranean climate - dry heat, nothing like the American South.

As someone who grew up near the Mediterranean shore I assure you it's not dry heat, at least not close (tens of kilometers) to the sea (which is where most people live).

Tel Aviv has a similar climate to Atlanta only with less rain (which doesn't mean it doesn't get extremely humid, just doesn't rain as often).

Re: How the Air Conditioner Made Modern America

#57

Post by chopsueyar »

ams6110 wrote: post #45
chopsueyar wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its a dry heat. I live in the Tampa, Florida area, and once it gets past 84 degrees, I feel quite miserable. My current dwelling is a 50s ranchette with concrete block walls. The orginal Jalousie ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalousie_window ) windows have been replaced, but the house has no insulation in the attic. The house had several window A/Cs, one was from the early 80s. I replaced them with a 3-zone minispli…

So why don't you insulate the attic?

I am waiting to have spray-foam insulation installed. If I use traditional fiberglass and a radiant heat barrier, I will then have to pay to have it removed and disposed of, prior to the spray foam insulation.

There is a soy-based spray foam insulation I plan on having installed.

http://soythane.mybigcommerce.com/

http://www.biobased.net/

A bit more expensive, but I believe it is worth it.

Re: How the Air Conditioner Made Modern America

#58

Post by saurik »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #25
StavrosK wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just Googled 97 degrees, expecting some large temperature, and it's only 36 degrees! For comparison, it's 40 C here today. Stay out of the sun, sweat a little, you'll be fine. Arabs have it much worse.

The point about humidity has already been made. I was astonished at how comfortable 115 degrees was in Phoenix. I went on a hike, no problem... Except that I carried a huge water bottle and the bottle ran out in an hour, so there's that. In humid places, however, sweating is almost useless and you can suffer in mere 90F heat. The other important point is that somehow folks in Singapore manage to survive, but in Singa…

You are making an assumption that the Middle East is nothing but a dry desert; the forecast for tomorrow afternoon in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is 101 degrees with a 29% humidity.

Re: How the Air Conditioner Made Modern America

#59

Post by asdkl234890 »

ido wrote: post #56
asdkl234890 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even in parts of southern Europe that get pretty hot Mediterranean climate - dry heat, nothing like the American South.

As someone who grew up near the Mediterranean shore I assure you it's not dry heat, at least not close (tens of kilometers) to the sea (which is where most people live). Tel Aviv has a similar climate to Atlanta only with less rain (which doesn't mean it doesn't get extremely humid, just doesn't rain as often).

As someone who lived outside the 10 kilometer radius, but did vacation there, I agree with you. I forgot about those last kilometers.
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