271–280 of 505 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It'll be -20 Celsius in winter and +40 Celsius in summer and everyone will die in both seasons so yes, no more heat problem when everyone dies.
-20 Celsius is not that bad in Winter.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was under the same impression about window units till recently as well. However, I learned that there are units with hoses and foam seals that just require to put the window on tilt and then the hose goes out at the top and the surrounding area is sealed with the foam. Not as good as a minisplit but it works and is DIY.
This might sound ridiculous to you but in the U.K. we generally don’t have tilting windows. They are really common in Germany though.
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.
Genuine question: Do we have data that collaborates the theory that AC's prevent heat deaths and it's not due to confounding variables like the air in Nevada being dryer (dry heat is more bearable than wet heat) or the people in Nevada having year round higher temperatures and just being more acclimated? Has been on my "to research" list for a while. I agree with you that Europeans should stop being so stingy with AC…
You will not die from sleeping in 30c. What europe will have to get used to is slow down over the mid day when the heat is worst.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sorry what? There's no reason that you can't install AC in your home/office in Europe, and many are doing so. It just hasn't been needed very much til recently.
There is, unfortunately. You cannot install AC, with an outside unit, without approval of your landlord. Lots of people are renting, e.g in Germany. Of course, one can get an indoor unit an seal the window. But it is heavy and takes up a lot of space in a small urban rental..
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's no European law against AC. It's just expensive energy because it's got carbon taxes in it.
There are atleast some restrictions in localities I.e. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/12/portof... or parts of Portugal. Also at a certain point if you ban or heavily restrict energy production to the point that no one can afford to run AC, it is a de facto ban.
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.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is completely ridiculous you just need to let people use AC properly and it will solve most of the problem with people dying. That doesn’t mean you need to go from place to place in AC or never be out of AC, but every person in southern Europe should have an AC unit in their bedroom and deaths will go down substantially. Another thing that would help is if Europe stopped being so averse to new construction so th…
> "Another thing that would help is if Europe..." Europe is a continent with a lot of different countries, all with different laws and regulations. Even the ones who are in the European Union have different rules and regulations. So please realize that any blanket statements about Europe work as well as making one about the Americas (ie North/South).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This might sound ridiculous to you but in the U.K. we generally don’t have tilting windows. They are really common in Germany though.
So you don't have sliding windows but also not tilting windows? They can only swing open?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
People tend to rely on air temperatures when in reality the lethality of heat is probably more linked to the wet-bulb temperature. The human body has a natural resting temperature of about 37°C, and metabolism of course generates more heat constantly, so we constantly have to shed that heat. When the temperature is low, we can rely purely on conducting the heat into the atmosphere to shed the heat (which is probably…
Dew point is a much better measure of the oppressive, muggy, sweltering feeling than humidity. The dew point in Australia ranges in the 5ºc - 15ºc range at which 30ºc after sunset feels vastly different, way cooler than South East Asia where the dew point is constantly above 24ºc.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> An air conditioner powered by solar energy (or anything solar powered) ends up releasing the exact same amount of "excess" heat as the sunlight would have if it hadn't been absorbed by the panels. Sure. But solar panels are intentionally designed to absorb a lot of energy. So if you are putting the panels over a dark surface, like asphalt, you'll probably have a net zero effect on heat. If you put them over somethi…
You gotta take entropy into account too. Sunshine is high grade energy, infrared is low grade. Reflecting high grade energy is a huge waste. You could even (in theory) run a solar powered space-ir-dumper and end up with net cooling of earth.