[flagged]
Big Air Conditioner
Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner
11–20 of 138 posts
Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner
#12I was in Spain last summer, in August of all times, ~30-40 C. Two of the three places I stayed at had no AC but had ceiling fans. Hot as hell for sure but that is why the siesta exists. I would go out, become exhausted from the damn heat, then go back to my room around 5PM, shower and sleep naked or only in underwear with a window open and ceiling fan running. Then awaken and go back out around 7PM. At someones house I slept in their basement which was a bit damp but cool enough to be somewhat comfortable. The last place I stayed at had AC thankfully.
Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner
#13How about applying political pressure to countries like China and India that do not care about emissions control and pollution? :)
Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner
#14The rapid buildout of solar, and the rise of efficient air cons for electric home heating certainly makes it seem like a much less wasteful technology than before.
I still think though that people are severly underestimating the effectiveness of relative simple, low-tech options like awnings though.
Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner
#15The article is all over the place. I thought the point will be about using your home as a "battery" to store what your panels produce during the day in the form of cool air. But I think the punchline is already in the first paragraph:
> Yanks holidaying in Europe expect cool comfort, and grow surly on finding that many old-world buildings require them to sweat and bear it.
And there's of course the ever present AI driver because where would we be if we don't get our priorities straight:
> It must ... expand its data centres, dwarfed by America’s, lest the artificial-intelligence revolution render it a vassal.
The rest of the article meanders through historical considerations, family wealth, home sizes, geopolitical issues, traditions, etc. None of which explain or justify the premise of the title, some even contradict it. Expanding AI DC goes head to head with "wasting" energy on cooling houses more. It's comfortable to lower the temp a bit in summer but all the arguments in the article are that the energy would be better used elsewhere. Industry, AI, etc.
The bottom like will always be that for any given production/storage capacity everything is a 0 sum game. I can use it to cool houses, or store it/use it for something more productive. The article does a bad job explaining why "cool the house" would trump other considerations when they compete for the same energy.
Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner
#16[flagged]
You don't think it has to do with all the dying from a heatwave going on there?
Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner
#17How about applying political pressure to countries like China and India that do not care about emissions control and pollution? :)
The anti global warming initiatives were killed by Unites States. Who is the major polluter.
Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner
#18As an American living in Austria, I find this conversation really tiring. Common arguments against AC are urban heat and CO2 emissions. Living in a city where 80% of residential electricity comes from hydropower, the emissions argument seems a bit moot.
For urban heat zones, AC seems to be criticized in isolation. There's never a mention of a lack of tree canopy in vast parts of the city, or that reflective pavements and green roofs are nonexistent.
I think a real barrier is that we're not allowed to install compressors on building facades. I don't disagree with this; it just means that most folks living here are stuck buying portable AC units, which are inefficient unless you do some considerable DIY to make them dual-hose.
Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner
#19Why has this become a meme? Sure aircon is nice but there are also reasons why it's not common in some parts of Europe. Here in central Prague a lot of the buildings are historic and protected, so you can't just gouge out a section of the building to install an aircon. Also it's generally only hot enough for aircon maybe 2-4 weeks a year. I'm seeing more and more American's yapping about not having aircon in Europe. I assume they're mostly the kind that has never been to Europe
Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner
#20I already love our airconditioning. The only downside is how quickly we became used to the luxury. But being to make our house liveable during this heatwave and be able to have friends and family and friends of the kids over as a refuge is a blessing.
The only regret I have is that this house only has mechanical ventilation (blowing waste air out and sucking in air through vents above the windows) instead of balanced air. That would have made it possible to have an even climate through the house. As it is, only the three rooms with a unit in it are fresh. We fill two large buckets with the water from the airconditioning and use it to water the plants in the evening.