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Extreme Heat conference cancelled due to extreme heat warning

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Re: Extreme Heat conference cancelled due to extreme heat warning

#81

Post by fc417fc802 »

mc32 wrote: post #57
rcvassallo83 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Efficient window unit? Best of the best is about 15-16 SEER That's entry level central HVAC efficiency Minisplits are far higher, 20+

If I don't have $30K to $50K to invest in an HVAC for the home, the next best is a relatively efficient Window unit that costs low hundreds and will help me stay alive in the heat. However enticing the price of a single duct portable unit is, do not buy it. It's a complete waste. If you go portable, go with the dual ducted one --but it's still not as good as a Window unit (which I would hope is obviously less efficie…

> It's a complete waste.

That's completely false. They work just fine despite not being terribly efficient at least provided you install them correctly (but that caveat naturally applies to any window unit).

In fact despite the low efficiency using only one in a single room is likely far cheaper than cooling the entire house. It's the same principle as an electric space heater versus a whole home heat pump.

Of course running a minisplit only in the one room would be substantially better but for a 1 kW unit the difference is less than $1 per day (unless you're subject to the California electric grid I guess).

Re: Extreme Heat conference cancelled due to extreme heat warning

#82

Post by xoa »

mylifeandtimes wrote: post #60
lwansbrough wrote: post #9

Europeans don’t get scolded enough for their resistance to air conditioning. In terms of accounting for preventable deaths, Greece has 2x more heat-related deaths per capita annually than Mississippi has gun deaths. By comparison, the worst US state for heat related deaths, Nevada - a literal desert - has >10x fewer deaths per capita than Greece.

Air conditioning only works for things inside of buildings. Not so good for the plants and animals our lives depend on. And it raises the heat outside of buildings. Not so good for people who have to be outside, think first responders etc. "just turn on the AC and keep burning the world down" isn't really the answer.

>And it raises the heat outside of buildings.

No it doesn't. Seriously, where does this meme even come from? It should be pretty obvious just from a solar insolation map that AC is just noise vs the sun. The energy usage is tiny vs vehicles or non-heat pump heating and only electric. What changes temperature overall is the balance of thermal retention by the atmosphere vs radiation into space, hence why net increases in GHG are so dangerous. And at the ground level similarly how heat is dumped to atmosphere. Greenery, whites, shade etc is good, asphalt, mass standard glass is bad (hence many cities being heat islands). Old, leaky units sure, we absolutely should work to reduce that. But it's astonishing how people claim AC makes the outdoors hotter so consistently.

Re: Extreme Heat conference cancelled due to extreme heat warning

#83

Post by antonvs »

skybrian wrote: post #72
Grimblewald wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aicon is reasonable for areas where it's required, but "solving" things in areas where for millenia it wasnt required simply removes the pressure to act. This would be the opposite of what's required right now, which is decisive and heavy action on something we've been inactive on for way too long.

Letting people suffer to get political advantage isn't right, even if it's for a good cause.

We don’t need to make that choice, since collectively people inflict these things on themselves anyway. It’ll be interesting to see whether it leads to any sensible action. The cynical narrator in me says “it won’t.”

Re: Extreme Heat conference cancelled due to extreme heat warning

#84

Post by fc417fc802 »

colechristensen wrote: post #38
jatora wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you are saying temperature has risen enough to warrant an AC now? Due to climate change? I thought climate change was on aggregate ~1C difference but my data is a decade old the last time i looked into it

The average temperature across the entire globe averaged over a year does not mean that each day is subject to the exact average added to it. Global warming intensifies differences in weather patterns. Hotter hots, colder colds, more intense storms, etc.

Seeing as it's so commonly misunderstood I wonder if "catastrophic climate variance" wouldn't have been a better term in hindsight.

Re: Extreme Heat conference cancelled due to extreme heat warning

#85

Post by el_io »

winstonp wrote: post #7
shitloadofbooks wrote: post #6

"Extreme Heat" seems to be 37-40 degrees Celsius which is bafflingly mundane to me as an Australian who grew up in rural New South Wales. We'd pack 30 kids and a teacher into an un-airconditioned classroom with just a ceiling fan and the windows open in that temperature. I imagine the buildings there just aren't built to support that heat plus the body height of hundreds or thousands of attendees?

the British are notoriously sensitive to heat. They'll call 30 Celsius weather a heat wave.

[dead]

Re: Extreme Heat conference cancelled due to extreme heat warning

#86

Post by Noaidi »

xoa wrote: post #82
mylifeandtimes wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Air conditioning only works for things inside of buildings. Not so good for the plants and animals our lives depend on. And it raises the heat outside of buildings. Not so good for people who have to be outside, think first responders etc. "just turn on the AC and keep burning the world down" isn't really the answer.

> And it raises the heat outside of buildings. No it doesn't. Seriously, where does this meme even come from? It should be pretty obvious just from a solar insolation map that AC is just noise vs the sun. The energy usage is tiny vs vehicles or non-heat pump heating and only electric. What changes temperature overall is the balance of thermal retention by the atmosphere vs radiation into space, hence why net increase…

> No it doesn't.

Yes, it does. It may be small temperature increase but AC use increases outside temperatures. It is just physics.

Here is a simple diagram: https://www.lozierheatingcooling.com/filesimages/heatPump.jp...

Re: Extreme Heat conference cancelled due to extreme heat warning

#87

Post by nemomarx »

lrae wrote: post #78
Retr0id wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some reason it's very hard to find window units for sale in the UK, single-duct portables are the only thing available for cheap (although it's a fairly easy mod to convert one to dual-duct).

Probably because the UK - similar to most of Europe - does not use the US vertically sliding sash window type, does it? The typical "walmart window AC" does just not really exist in (most of) Europe, because the windows for it don't exist, afaik. Edit: Turns out, sash windows are more commonly found in the UK (compared to other European countries), but still not as common as in the US. So, UK = not as hot (so far), t…

Why are the windows different, actually? They don't seem to be smaller overall, just skinnier and taller?

But you should still be able to get two tubes fitted into any kind of window with the right seals. If you were really up for renovations you could get closeable exhaust holes punched through your brick or something maybe.

Re: Extreme Heat conference cancelled due to extreme heat warning

#88

Post by Noaidi »

lazide wrote: post #62
mylifeandtimes wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Air conditioning only works for things inside of buildings. Not so good for the plants and animals our lives depend on. And it raises the heat outside of buildings. Not so good for people who have to be outside, think first responders etc. "just turn on the AC and keep burning the world down" isn't really the answer.

Weirdest argument to keep letting 100k grandmas die from heat every summer I’ve ever heard.

100k grandmas die from heat every summer because of our ignorance of climate change and a propaganda machine that denies that it is real.

Re: Extreme Heat conference cancelled due to extreme heat warning

#89

Post by AstroNutt »

mylifeandtimes wrote: post #60
lwansbrough wrote: post #9

Europeans don’t get scolded enough for their resistance to air conditioning. In terms of accounting for preventable deaths, Greece has 2x more heat-related deaths per capita annually than Mississippi has gun deaths. By comparison, the worst US state for heat related deaths, Nevada - a literal desert - has >10x fewer deaths per capita than Greece.

Air conditioning only works for things inside of buildings. Not so good for the plants and animals our lives depend on. And it raises the heat outside of buildings. Not so good for people who have to be outside, think first responders etc. "just turn on the AC and keep burning the world down" isn't really the answer.

It's just a heat transfer. Refrigerant inside the evaporator picks up heat and transfers it to the condensing unit outside.

They don't create heat. It was there in the first place, just a different location.

Re: Extreme Heat conference cancelled due to extreme heat warning

#90

Post by fc417fc802 »

cjonas wrote: post #51
germandiago wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I've always assumed there is some sort of "acclimation" period, maybe even related to the conditions you grew up in. I much would rather spend a time outside in -40c (with proper outerwear) than 40c. I'm relatively healthy but I feel like my body shuts down at anything above 36c

Same. There definitely seem to be strong genetic factors (just based on my personal experience TBF). I also notice I adapt substantially after two to three weeks of consistent exposure. But it does have to be consistent - hiding out with AC 24/7 prevents it.
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