Wow he must have been an iron man. Maybe in SF you don't, but you go a bit south and you so much do. I've spent lots of money setting up AC in my current house and now I am feeling it's worth it. I'm relatively ok with heat but 100+ is too much even for me.

I hate being at home during the day anyway, but it's also to try to save a little energy ;) Everyone turning ther A/C on is actually making the planet hotter.

This really needs to be emphasised to all the newcomers to SF.

In Fremont/San Jose/Sunnyvale you probably will need AC, but most areas you're probably fine with a few fans running, which are more environmentally friendly.

But alas, the culture here is changing. The sales people in our office have this lazy habit of opening the windows and keeping the AC running.

If so, AC unit might be the most economical option.

A typical air conditioner is one example of a heat pump, a device that moves heat from one location to another. In this case you're pumping heat from inside your house to outside, warming the air around the house.

Your refrigerator is also a heat pump, moving heat from inside the fridge to the outside. This is one reason cats like to climb up on top of the refrigerator (besides the fact that they like to climb on everything) - it's warm up there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pump

Not saying give up air conditioning altogether, but consider hanging out in an air conditioned public space instead of switching on your own. Libraries, malls, coffee shops, universities, just to name a few.

Of course 100% efficiency isn't actually possible.

That's bull. I won't have absolutely any effect on the planet if I run my AC 24/7 for all my life. The scales are way too different. You are free to do what you want but please spare me the sanctimonious baloney.

BTW, how do you get to the sea - I bet it's in a car and not on the back of a unicorn? At least most people do. Same as they get to air-conditioned malls (whose AC would probably be consuming energy couple of orders of magnitude more than that home AC) and other places. As I said, it's your choice how to deal with it but please, less posturing.

Oh and btw I love AC and am totally wtfing about not having AC now that it's hot and all the fans being sold out wrf.

> The collective use of air conditioning does indeed contribute to climate change.

Not significantly more than any other use of the same energy.

Without A/C, tropical countries would not have developed to the extent they have, bringing millions out of poverty https://www.vox.com/2015/3/23/8278085/singapore-lee-kuan-yew...

I grew up in Sacramento. I know full well that hydration and shade are not nearly as effective as just staying inside an air-conditioned room. They're certainly important in those cases where you need to be out and about, but it's almost always better to just not be in that environment in the first place.

Roads started melting there from the 110+ degree heat this summer.

How many died because of the absence?

Survival is a poor metric.

... and clothes, shoes, agriculture, metal, etc etc. A/C is a luxury, yes, but humans have been without pretty much all artificial things for most of their existence.

And even today it is not really among the hottest places on Earth.

And they still do. It's ubiquitous in the US, but I assume only a tiny minority of people in the world use A/C, even in developed countries.

Look - we are all the children of survivors, and the correct counter factual are all our siblings and their lineages who didn't make it.

I'm sure his house has A/C, but that doesn't mean his apartments need it, or could even use it.

Hell, I bought a home in Richmond in 2013 and when we were getting the furnace replaced I asked about adding an AC as well and the guy laughed at me. At 11pm its 88 in my hallway. 74 in my bedroom where I bought a window AC unit. Really wish he would have just given me the price and let me decide...

Source: Haven't turned it on.

in SF, that's one hell of an air conditioner

If you open the windows at night, cool the place down, close the windows and shades in the morning, the house will stay pretty cool throughout the day.

This is hot though :)