To Ban Air-con

[chaosmaker]

On a rapidly heating planet, shouldn't we be looking for ways to build/fit housing for all sorts of extreme weather?
Air-con just makes it hotter for everyone overall as it adds heat into the environment and makes it worse overall.

I saw this TikTok of how they used to keep cool in Iran back in the day.
They built these tall wind catcher buildings and it funnelled the wind down into the buildings. Looked amazing and shows how advanced civilisation were.

MangoMilkWhip

Maybe you not flying or driving doesn’t compare (but it’s good you don’t) but the whole population cutting down on flying would compare to the mega rich (and I’d guess some of them would stop to keep up appearances)

Embracing building styles that help would be useful - but costly. I grew up in an 1800s cottage and it held heat well in the winter and stayed cool in summer. You could walk in from outside in summer and cool down easily. It had half a metre thick stone walls which isn't really practical to build now but performed so well.
I lived in a modern build flat for a few years and it was horrendous in summer. It was like living in an oven. Nothing you did seemed to keep it cool.
Now I live in a 1920s terrace with solid wall construction and solid internal walls. It generally stays tolerable - apart from the attic room which is always going to get hot. But again, good solid houses like this aren't what they're building anymore.

But this is a good instinct! Prioritise ways to save the planet that have the least negative impact on humans.

So, yes to nuclear power, carbon trading and abatement, electrification, externalities taxes. No to keeping people in uncomfortably or dangerously hot conditions to ‘make a sacrifice’. And no to teaching the population that they save the planet by unplugging their mobile chargers.

This isn't true for domestic buildings. Some will - in the same way as some houses in the UK will. But many still won't and just use shutters etc.

If you ban air con ban heating too. They’re opposite sides of the same coin.

but then think of all the drama about British people who can’t afford to heat their houses 😱 maybe we should just get over that, because it’s bad for the environment

I couldn’t care less. If I could afford it, I’d have it in the house.

Buying one on pay day

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher

There are other options that were historically used and can cool a room by 18 degree C

Climate measures that visibly kill humans in developed countries are always going to be a hard sell, OP.

Aircon a problem? Whilst Russia and China do what they want and we are supposed to save the planet with our aircon? Illusions of grandeur or what?

You want to ban heating too so people can freeze to death?!

We pay to heat our homes and now we need to pay to cool them.

@Wouldcou

yes, Ive put a video up to show - the problem is it is free once the buildings are finished <cynical>

aircon as it is cost people money to use, its purchased and then needs electric

I am considering putting air-conditioning in. I have solar panels and it would take nothing from the grid.

However selling back to the grid gives you pittance. I would rather be comfortable.

Too right!

The place we stay each year in WA doesn't have Aircon. The houses are all built differently though.

Its just never going to happen.
Other things we could do are, ban all air travel except matters of national security, ban unnecessaty car journeys, ration fuel, eliminate plastic, ban heating your whole house, only allow heating two rooms in winter, make unnecessary buying of items illlegal, ban dog ownership and their waste which pollutes the waterways, and many more things which will never happen until one day they have to.

I’d ban temu and shein first if im
honest.

Well in Britain we don't have it in our homes anyway. It certainly is not standard, and costs thousands to install.

In cars, offices and shops - we so rarely have the need for it, why do you begrudge the little bit of keeping cool that we do need to do? Other countries don't seem to care as much as we do, still use plastic straws etc. Why is it always we in the UK who have to go without?

UK building standards have a lot of stuff about heat regulation for new homes and other buildings. Approved Document
O is about overheating.

So are you prepared for all the people that live in countries where without aircon a significant number of them will die, to come and live in your temperate zone?

thought not. because thats the only answer isnt it. either we squash up and let them share our bit of the planet or they die.

The problem we have in the UK is we get very cold weather then very hot. In hot countries or cold countries, they can adapt the houses as the temp is fairly consistent.
We’d need to build houses that could keep heat in during the winter but let it out in the summer. I don’t know if such a design exists and whether it would be cost effective.

You can do what you want, as can others.

They are already dying. Extreme heat in India has killed more than 100 people in the past three and a half months | AP News