News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Air-conditioners do great good, but at a high environmental cost. Parent comment

Re:Air-conditioners do great good, but at a high environment... by dghughes on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @03:55PM (#17862298)
In my region of south eastern Canada the summers seem to be hotter and seem to be lasting longer. Today for example 27C and 80% humidity. Normally 15C to 20C and low humidity would be normal this time of year.

With the cost of fuel oil (common here) many people have installed supplemental heating in the form of heat pumps. The side benefit is they also have cooling capabilities.

My point, the local power company said in a news release power use during the summer took a big jump. But even with all the A/C units in use power use is still 20% lower than in winter, heating uses much more energy (and many people also supplement with wood).

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Air-conditioners do great good, but at a high environment... by avip on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @04:06PM (#17862391)
That's because your winter is more extreme. In any modestly hot country, electricity consumption peaks in summer.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Air-conditioners do great good, but at a high environment... by jrace on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @06:22PM (#17863468)
Also not every house in Canada has AC....but ALL have heating.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Air-conditioners do great good, but at a high environment... by dorfsmay on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @07:28PM (#17863860)
What about lighting?

In Calgary it's dark from 18:00 to 09:00 in December, but only from 23:00 to 05:30 in July.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Air-conditioners do great good, but at a high environment... by beojan on Wednesday August 29, 2018 @05:57AM (#17867022)
If you have modern energy-efficient lighting, it uses very little power.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Air-conditioners do great good, but at a high environment... by dotancohen on Thursday August 30, 2018 @06:53AM (#17875622)
If you have traditional filament bulbs, it supplements the heating in winter!
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Air-conditioners do great good, but at a high environment... by ant6n on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @04:51PM (#17862763)
The delta for AC cooling seems to be <10C, the delta for heating could be up to 50C. So it seems pretty sad that the energy consumption is only 20% lower.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Air-conditioners do great good, but at a high environment... by C4stor on Wednesday August 29, 2018 @08:38AM (#17867727)
Except your house is heated by literally anything that's doing anything inside it (like your own body, cooking, using a computer, taking a shower, ...), meaning it never reaches the outside temperature except if it's inhabited for a long period of time. Meaning cooling have to compensate for every bit of activity, whereas heating doesn't.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Air-conditioners do great good, but at a high environment... by ant6n on Wednesday August 29, 2018 @12:44PM (#17869661)
Heating in Canada will use ~kW, in the summer I'm not using any device in that order of magnitude, including humans (which are what, 100W?).

If I remember correctly, the energy use of heating/cooling is related to the square of the temperature difference, so if ACs with a low temperature delta use nearly as much energy as heating does in winter, with its higher delta, it indicates that there may be a lot of waste.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Air-conditioners do great good, but at a high environment... by dghughes on Wednesday August 29, 2018 @12:39PM (#17869611)
Plus people here have to learn that insulation is for hot or cold. Many people open their windows on hot days then complain it's hot in their houses.

It wouldn't take as much energy if people would close their windows.

And my dad leaves the AC on all day. I said just turn it on ten minutes before you go in the room it will probably do the same and be cheaper.

[ Parent | on HN ]