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Heat people, not spaces (2015)

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Re: Heat people, not spaces (2015)

#21
post #17

We take the general concept of heating people, not the space, to heart for our outdoor swimming pool. While most other folks heat their pool, we go ahead and swim in the cold water... but we buy everyone in the family a wetsuit. A few hundred dollars on wetsuits each year is far better than many hundreds on propane every month.

Is that enjoyable?

Totally - in some ways, it is more enjoyable. Easy to stay warm, and the suit give you some extra floatation, so we can play games in the deep water more easily. It also protects us more from sunburn, which is a nice added bonus.

Re: Heat people, not spaces (2015)

#22

I've been thinking about the inverse problem. I live in a very warm city. Air conditioning (cooling spaces) is the norm, but tons of money are spent with installations, maintenance and the monthly electricity bill. The new houses are designed with zero consideration about ventilation, designers seem to take for granted that you are going to buy an AC system. Oftentimes, a very simple change in the project would be en…

Just curious, what part of the world do you live in? I've lived in cities where we experience anything between below zero to 120F throughout the year. I couldn't imagine not having AC/Heating in those areas even with more efficient ventilation/insulation.

Mainer checking in. Wednesday afternoon it was 70F. The next morning it was 5F Friday a snowstorm. Today -2F in AM.

We all just dress in endless layers.

Re: Heat people, not spaces (2015)

#23

I've been thinking about the inverse problem. I live in a very warm city. Air conditioning (cooling spaces) is the norm, but tons of money are spent with installations, maintenance and the monthly electricity bill. The new houses are designed with zero consideration about ventilation, designers seem to take for granted that you are going to buy an AC system. Oftentimes, a very simple change in the project would be en…

Ventilation doesn't help much with humidity, which frequently overlaps with the heat. I get by without AC in the northern Midwest, but I'd be inclined to get a window unit if there was more than a few uncomfortable nights a year.

It can, though has limits to how hot/wet it can help with - see figure [0] for Celcius and [1] for Farenheit which show the accepted climate-science approach mapping appropriate techniques for achieving comfort at various temperatures/humidity.

Ventilation is actually best for hot-wet climates where hot-dry climates (common through much of the US) are usually better dealt with through thermal-mass/thermal-lag as typically the nights are cold (in hot-wet usually the nights are hot).

[0] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kiyan-Vadoudi/publicati...

[1] https://leetammy.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/blue-psycho.jpg

Re: Heat people, not spaces (2015)

#24

I've been thinking about the inverse problem. I live in a very warm city. Air conditioning (cooling spaces) is the norm, but tons of money are spent with installations, maintenance and the monthly electricity bill. The new houses are designed with zero consideration about ventilation, designers seem to take for granted that you are going to buy an AC system. Oftentimes, a very simple change in the project would be en…

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Re: Heat people, not spaces (2015)

#25

I've been thinking about the inverse problem. I live in a very warm city. Air conditioning (cooling spaces) is the norm, but tons of money are spent with installations, maintenance and the monthly electricity bill. The new houses are designed with zero consideration about ventilation, designers seem to take for granted that you are going to buy an AC system. Oftentimes, a very simple change in the project would be en…

Ventilation and air conditioning are two very different things. Unless it’s a central unit, the AC will be reusing the same air. In order to not die of lack of oxygen you need ventilation as well.

Interestingly, the articles I find about ventilation are indeed concerned about air quality. However, in my country, at least in the cities I've lived on, the idea of ventilation is mostly associated to cooling indoors (with air quality being a desirable byproduct). Maybe the differences between our climates led to differences between the concepts behind the same word. Or maybe there's a better word in English to express what I'm intending to (sorry, English is not my mother language).

Re: Heat people, not spaces (2015)

#26

I've been thinking about the inverse problem. I live in a very warm city. Air conditioning (cooling spaces) is the norm, but tons of money are spent with installations, maintenance and the monthly electricity bill. The new houses are designed with zero consideration about ventilation, designers seem to take for granted that you are going to buy an AC system. Oftentimes, a very simple change in the project would be en…

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