The human body is already close to thermal limits in many regions

Re:The human body is already close to thermal limits in many... by learnstats2 on Monday July 29, 2019 @06:40AM (#20553146)

it will additionally incentivise AC manufacturers to find more carbon-efficient ways of cooling.

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Re:The human body is already close to thermal limits in many... by coredog64 on Monday July 29, 2019 @09:28AM (#20554358)

AC is more efficient than heating since it is just moving energy around. And yet I don’t see wailing and gnashing of teeth about heating when it is frequently accomplished by burning oil in an on-site boiler. I get the sense that it comes down to places that use AC to make the 3 horrible months of summer livable vote the “wrong” way, while places that burn oil to make the 3 horrible months of winter livable vote the “right” way.

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Re:The human body is already close to thermal limits in many... by briandear on Monday July 29, 2019 @09:59AM (#20554637)

Why is this being downvoted? Are those living in the liberal Northeast US ever proposing to reduce heating? Not much. Read the comments here — using “less AC” appears more frequently than “use less heat.” My point is that you have a point. Colder places lament the AC use of hotter places because they aren’t significantly proposing to limit their own quality of life, but the quality of life of people that don’t vote like them.

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Re:The human body is already close to thermal limits in many... by dashundchen on Monday July 29, 2019 @11:03AM (#20555291)

Many of the populous northern states (I am familiar with at least MA and NY) are heavily incentivizing weatherization, solar, and eliminating fossil fuels by switching to electric ground and air source heat pumps. Lowest hanging fruit is rural oil and propane heated houses but I expect natural gas to be targeted soon considering New York's climate goals.

Combined with the efforts to switch the grid to renewables (net-zero electric grid by 2040 and net-zero altogether by 2050) this should greatly reduce emissions coming from eating.

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/6/20/1869105...

In fact, New York has aggressively limited the expansion of natural gas pipelines and recently both ConEd and National Grid, two major gas providers, said in response they will stop expanding their network. IMO New York's energy agencies are using this to see if they can fully eliminate fossil fuels from new development and start a phase out.

https://enerknol.com/national-grid-stops-accepting-new-gas-s...

https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/Clean-Energ...

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Re:The human body is already close to thermal limits in many... by VBprogrammer on Monday July 29, 2019 @12:01PM (#20555975)

I think you are correct, there is definitely more stigma attached to AC than there is to heating. That said, I think the use of AC to the extent that staying inside for too long is uncomfortable without putting on more clothing is probably excessive, in the same way that setting the heating so that you need to wear shorts inside would be excessive.

I think a lot of common sense has been lost in the design of homes. In the south of Europe homes are often comfortable with minimal or no air-conditioning because they have designs suitable for the climate. However, this means having small windows which aren't directly exposed to sunlight, tiled or marble floors etc.

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Re:The human body is already close to thermal limits in many... by learnstats2 on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @08:25PM (#20580099)

AC is more efficient than heating since it is just moving energy around.

This claim is incompatible the Second Law of Thermodynamics: "Heat can never pass from a colder to a warmer body without some other change, connected therewith, occurring at the same time."

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Re:The human body is already close to thermal limits in many... by smileysteve on Monday July 29, 2019 @08:02AM (#20553602)

If my electricity is nuclear, hydro, or wind then what Carbon is my ac inefficient at?

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Re:The human body is already close to thermal limits in many... by Scoundreller on Monday July 29, 2019 @10:00AM (#20554652)

If your grid is connected to other grids, reducing your electric consumption will offset other carbon consumption.

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Re:The human body is already close to thermal limits in many... by tsukikage on Monday July 29, 2019 @12:07PM (#20556044)

If your electricity comes from renewables, carbon tax shouldn't affect your AC use.

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