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.

But it's survival of the richest isn't it, and those who can afford it, globally,making the situation catastrophically and irreversibly worse for those who can't. Climate poverty and climate poverty ill health and deaths are upon us and maybe you might die without your air con but do you do anything to advocate for how dangerous the situation is. Australia will become unlivable and not viable much quicker than people imagine yet people are totally focused on their own individual situations

Total worldwide private aircraft CO2 emissions per year is around 16m tonnes.

Total worldwide commercial aircraft CO2 emissions per year is around just under 900m tonnes.

Commercial makes up around 98% of CO2 emissions.

Private is technically worse per mile that is absolutely true, but is not the single total worldwide problem we face from flight clearly.

I’d prefer to ban avocados first. Horrendous for the environment

Why do people peddle this nonsense? Have you looked at a map, Australia is a huge place and not every part of it is extremely hot.

Yes climate change and global warming is real, but the hyperbole on MN at times is ridiculous.

There should be stricter building regulations - I spoke to a county councillor in my area recently who said the council unanimously agreed on regulations that would make new houses built more eco friendly (I don't have a list, think one thing was swift bricks but among other measures) and they weren't allowed to implement it because the regulations can't be any stricter than the absolute minimum that Westminster stipulates.

This

@bridgetJonesV2 would you mind saying whether your insulated blinds are the honeycomb/cellular type or whether they are fabric, insulated with thick linings? I'm considering getting some...

It's not as simple as that though - it depends how many degrees you're heating or cooling by.

My understanding (perhaps wrong) was that in general cooling costs more than heating though.

it depends how many degrees you're heating or cooling by.

Something very silly went through my mind reading this - remember six degrees of Kevin Bacon? Perhaps this is six degrees of feeling baking. 😂I'll get my coat...

I've just dug out the specifications of one of our units, a multi-split which powers two indoor units.

Input power for cooling varies between 0.18kW and 0.6kW, while cooling capacity ranges from 0.75kW to 2.4kW.

Input power for heating varies between 0.17kW and 1.02kW, with heating capacity ranging from 0.7kW to 3.6kW.

So, on these figures it uses less electricity when cooling, which is probably more to do with the smaller temperature differentials rather than anything inherent in the mechanical process: it is, after all, the same equipment - just operating in reverse.

However, whether it's heating or cooling the effect is much greater than the electricity it consumes: the ratio is the co-efficient of performance. So, if it's running at full tilt in cooling mode it converts 0.6kW of electricity into 2.4kW of cooling effect, and in heat mode it turns 1.02kW of electricity into 3.6kW of warmth. This is the reason we're all being encouraged to switch to heat pumps for heating - not only does it enable a switch from fossil fuels to electricity and therefore renewables once the grid is properly decarbonised for domestic heating, they're just much more efficient.

We power ours for cooling in the summer with a 6kW photovoltaic solar array and 9.5kWh battery: yesterday it kept the house cool all day, and three bedrooms airconditioned through the night, without drawing anything from the grid. The only heat AC adds to the environment, as OP would have, is the small amount of heat the plant itself generates. Most of the 'heat' you can feel near one of these things is not additional generation, but heat being displaced from the room. When running in heating mode, they actually blow cold air out.

If we were clever creatures, we should build underground :)

I really really like the wind towers though. Can you imagine how really built up areas would be cooled by them. Lush

Agree and OP clearly has no understanding of thermodynamics.

Well, this is Britain in the 21st century. It would be rather unbecoming to let science and data get in the way of a good old emotive rant from which someone wants to derive government policy.

And you're used to the climate you were born in.
We regularly did 40 degree days at home and in school with no aircon. We were hot, but used to it.
When I see hysteria over it reaching 25 in some places I think that is only just lukewarm!

We cope with what we're used to and many would cope fine with out it in the climate they're used to.

I thought it was a great film and one of Nicholas Cage's best. Yes, it is very violent but definitely shouldn’t be banned 😂

UK housing was never designed for hotter weather. However, there are a lot of things that could be added to manage heat better, without significant environmental impact. First, solar panels, and ceiling fans throughout. Ceiling fans use minimal electricity, and could easily be fully powered by solar. Plue modern two way ceiling fans can also be used in winter, to push hot air back down into the room, so, win-win.

Next, cover all the windows from outside; shutters, window shades and canopies, and verandahs. Verandahs can actually help prevent external walls from heating up as well. And there are types with ceilings that can be opened up in winter to allow in winter sunlight. If the UK does eventually end up with hotter, longer summers, ceiling fans can be attached under verandahs as well.

Then the roof. Insulate properly first, and then install whirlybirds. These are designed to extract heat and humidity from the roof space.

Plants, plants, and more plants. Focus on deciduous species that drop their leaves in winter, to maximise light into the home. But plant strategically (in pots if necessary) to filter light and reduce ambient temperature in summer.

When I’m told air conditioning is bad for the planet in relation to climate change I would assert that if we hadn’t heated the world up with central heating to within an inch of its life we probably wouldn’t need so much air conditioning now.

Given your son's disabilities, I presume he's getting DLA/PIP? Are you in rented accommodation or do you own your home? Could you use the DLA/PIP money to get a proper heat pump AC system fitted to the house? Maybe a multi-split system that cools multiple rooms using a single outdoor unit should be suitable.