sorta ot a/c around the world

As commentaries go, this is pretty idiotic, but that's what you expect in American commentaries of global warming.

China is still building about one new coal-fired power station a week. It's shutting down a raft of much less efficient old coal-fired power stations at the same time, so this probably counts as reducing it's greenhouse emissions, but not for commentators with an axe to grind.

Do you have a/c ?

We don't.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

I do. My wife insisted on it. I mostly use it for heating in winter, and rarely need it, even for that. I knew a couple in England who used a heat pump as the heat source for their radiators - they were Dutch and the husband was an engineer. The wife was a programmer (and a rather good one). At the time it was a capital-intensive choice.

No surprise there.

It is the sort of right wing junk we expect from you.

Domestic aircon is *not* illegal in the UK. It isn't common but is slowly becoming more so as air source heat pumps gain ground. The government has had to issue a denial of that Torygraph lie:

Until quite recently aircon simply wasn't necessary as the number of uncomfortably hot summer days could be counted on the fingers of one hand. My house is brick built in the Victorian era and the solid walls are so thick that thermal inertia is enough to handle these heatwaves simply by passive management of when windows are opened (ie at night).

There is seldom any need for active cooling in summer in the UK. Much like SF it benefits from an onshore prevailing wind off the ocean and a maritime climate warmed by the Gulf Stream. All the UK is further north than Vancouver and wet in winter so citrus trees don't survive outside.

The main problem in the UK is enough power to *heat* homes in winter. We nearly came unstuck when Russian gas stopped flowing and may still be very marginal this winter as a result of Trump's idiotic war on Iran.

Aircon aka "la clim" *is* frowned upon in France (and Germany) where in some parts of the country they really could do with it. They make do with external window shutters and passive management for the most part.

There is no doubt that aircon makes urban heat bubbles considerably hotter as they have to dump hot air outside the building to work.

It will be fun watching global warming get its revenge on tomorrows Trumpfest where the US celebrates obtaining its freedom from a despotic English monarch by installing a home grown elected tyrant demagogue.

Some of his most recent utterances have been so weird that the BBC Radio

Kew Archive have found an original Exeter first edition of The US Declaration of Independence which is to go on display at the National Archives to celebrate the 250th anniversary.

We have an air to water heat pump. It was mostly a drop-in replacement for an oil boiler - the radiators were replaced with thicker ones to suit the lower (more efficient) flow temperatures, but otherwise it operates much as the oil system did. It will also do chilled water, something the radiators aren't useful for (and the original installer knew nothing about). I'm currently working on replumbing the system to add fan coils for cooling.

Theo

Climate and microclimate dictates the heating and cooling requirements of a particular edifice.

Here, public schools are NOT air conditioned (relying on very large evaporative coolers). But, the school year starts earlier and ends earlier which avoids the months when evaporative cooling would be compromised. Also, the hours of the day that are hottest (2-6P) students are already on their way home.

Growing up in New England, public schools relied on windows for cooling. Residences were typically oil fired hot water so adding (central) air conditioning was a significant expense (supply and return registers in each room/area). Air conditioning was even seen as nonessential in automobiles.

Our home has "dual cooling" (refrigeration and evaporation). I prefer the cooler (in Summer -- refrigeration to replace it during Monsoon). But, it uses a fair amount of water (many gallons per hour, 24/7). The circulation fan must run continuously (to exhaust the wetted air). Windows must remain open for that exhaust. Outside air is constantly being introduced (allergens). And, it requires a bit of skill and attention to ensure it isn't counter productive (e.g., if windy outside, the static pressure can end up reversed). F*ckups can lead to exhorbitantly high levels of interior moisture, mold growth, etc.

So, we've largely sidelined the cooler. And, as refrigeratio sees bigger efficiency increases than evaporative technology, its almost a break-even one TOTAL operating cost.

As we can always import electricity (but available water supplies are under increased pressure), the cities would like for folks to move away from coolers though many can't afford to do so.

During Autumn/Winter/Spring/Summer, we rely on ventilating the house, overnight, to drop the interior temperature and then "button things up" as the outdoor conditions begin to influence the indoor adversely. And, adjust window coverings to admit/block sunlight to suit the seasons.

The same is true of any technology that wants to "move" the heat (perhaps excepting ground-sourced heat pumps).

Other aspects of "development" play a big part -- the amount of concrete and asphalt vs. natural landscaping; automobile traffic; material choices (absorbent vs reflective); cultural issues; etc.

The more interesting issue will be the farm belt losing their primary assets (the land they manage) as they discover they can't relocate it to a more favorable climate!

Gotta feel sorry for him -- to feel like he's on top of the world as he's circling the drain (mentally and physically)...

We live on the north rim of the Alemany Gap. It's cold and a little foggy this morning, as usual. 90% of Americans have a/c, but hardly anyone around here does. We have the heat on today.

We typically get a warm spell, a couple weeks in October, and a few ceiling fans get us through that.

I grew up in New Orleans, where a/c is necessary and universal. It's said that nobody sane would live in Houston without a/c.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

Why is a map of a/c use, by country, right-wing junk? I thought it was interesting.

Those 400-year old houses with single-pane windows are pretty, but I suspect are not well insulated.

Paris is apparently pretty warm lately. Some urban heat island effect may be involved. They have about 80% zinc roofs and basically no a/c.

"Elected" is the word that doesn't fit into your rant.

TDS is a terrible mental illness.

We expect some spectacular fireworks, fog permitting.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

It is designed for people like you, who think that Donald Trump has "common sense" rather than vulgar delusions.

The US "electoral system" has so many built-in opportunities for people with money to influence the vote that Trump wasn't so much elected as puffed into the job.

It lead people to vote for Donald Trump, confusing him with some kind of politician. It's not so much a mental illness as a deformity of US society, originally intended to let the people who own the country run it. Trump owns a lot of debt, so it isn't working the way it was originally intended, but it was a poorly designed system back in 1776 and hasn't been cleaned up nearly enough in the meantime.

Blowing it up would be a rational choice - you aren't short of better alternatives with which to replace it - but you do seem to have a sentimental attachment to the poor pathetic object.

Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@NONAD.co.UK> wrote: |--------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"[. . .] My house is brick built in the Victorian era and the solid walls | |are so thick that thermal inertia is enough to handle these heatwaves | |simply by passive management of when windows are opened (ie at night)." | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Is there a risk of mould if one keeps windows opened at nights? Nights' data for

(S.

As I had stated, the local climate/microclimate plays a big role in how an edifice reacts to it.

Most homes, here, are slump block or other types of brick. As Martin suggests, this provides SOME thermal inertia -- the interior of the space sees a delayed reaction to the climate outdoors.

But, it's just a delay. If the outdoor climate persists "long enough", the thermal mass saturates and the interior space is more forcefully *driven* by that persistence. Once the structure gets hot, it STAYS hot.

E.g., last night was unusually cool -- about 20C. So, the interior of the house dropped a degree (C) or two, just by venting to the outdoors. But, with daytime temperatures having and a good long time (20 hours?) for that heat to soak into the structure, any reprieve is short-lived.

The overnight low, tomorrow morning, will be 25C at 6AM, reaching 38C at ~3PM and dropping to 27C the following morning. The pattern continuing with highs of 40, 41, 41, 40, 36 and 35 for the following days with lows of 27, 28, 28, 27, 24. There's just no time for the structure to shed the heat its accumulated.

And, June was *cooler* than usual -- though "Summer" likely started in February, this year (our first 38C/100F day was in midMarch)

A better illustration of the persistence of high temperatures:

The light/white band represents daylight hours. E.g., today, from about 5A to about 7:30P.

Yellow represents the portion of the day where temperatures are

Last year's data:

Yet, July and August are really the only times of year when it is uncomfortable -- as humidity (dew point) increases so you *feel* hot and active cooling becomes more of a necessity (we've explored "a big dehumidifier" -- but, they call that "air conditioning!")

ObTrivia: Monsoon used to start on "the first of three consecutive days where the dew point reached 55F". Parsing this, carefully, means you don't know you are *in* Monsoon until the third day. And, at that time, know that it started three days earlier! This proved too difficult for folks to deal with so now an arbitrary day (6/15) is regarded as the official start of Monsoon. I guess it makes record keeping easier? Most natives assume July 4 as its start.

"At 1AM, in *Paris*..."

But in typical UK summer heatwave conditions the daytime temperature is about 30-35C and the night time temperature dips quickly to 18-20C with a corresponding increase in humidity which forms dew on the grass and roofs. The house interior is too warm for moisture to come out of the air (tops of car roofs and grass are the coldest objects).

I had to look up slump block. US desert houses also typically have verandas to provide shade and keep the sun off the walls.

My house is made of high fired solid Victorian engineering brick - handmade and with some small round flint pebbles still in. The guy who drilled the vent for the wood burning stove destroyed a core drill when it caught on one of them. It took him about 3 hours to drill through an

Climbing plants growing up sun facing walls keep the sun off them.

The delay is sufficient that with care it is possible to lose enough heat overnight that the interior temperature remains comfortable. Many modern build UK homes are built to be highly insulating with bedrooms upstairs and heat rises. They do not fare so well in a heatwave.

We only have a heatwave in the UK for a few days or so before the weather breaks whereas you have it for an entire summer season.

That's already hotter than the UK record.

One odd thing about the most recent heatwave was that the humidity was unusually high which isn't something that UK most people are used to. At one point last week conditions were similar to the rainy season in Japan. Near 100% humidity and 35C outdoors which is tough going.

I don't think I have *ever* seen "dew", here. Even during Monsoon, the temperatures are too high for moisture to condense outdoors.

Indoors (as we run the ACbrrr nearly all year), glasses of iced drinks will sweat during monsoon. But, as I said elsewhere, we can leave a bag of potato chips (or popcorn) "out" and it will still be crisp a day later. (most of the other places that I've lived would render them "soggy")

Most houses have two or three types of brick. E.g., the "far" wall of the garage is made of small concrete bricks (to carry the load reflected to that outer wall without any intervening supports for that 20 ft span).

That's similar to the concrete bricks -- lots of stones *in* the bricks (you use a hammer-drill and try to find the softer mortar lines if you want the job done quickly). I hung an extension ladder on that wall (before i put up the shelving) and it was a chore to put the supports where *I* wanted them (the wall having its own idea)

We don't let things grow on the stucco as it provides places for nasty things to hide (snakes, lizards, spiders, etc.)

Newer homes, here, are stucco-over-wood so have different characteristics. Also, tend to be two or more floors to economize on lot sizes. Older homes have very little insulation between interior wall surface over exterior brick (maybe R3?). One of my goals will be to rip out the interior walls along the outside of the house and fir them out so some effective insulation can be installed.

My understanding was that you were seeing a prolonged exposure "now" (?)

For us, the cooling season starts in February or March and continues through "october". It is not uncommon for the temperature to still be 30+ at midnight. The coolest part of the day is the time just AFTER sunrise (one would think it would be just BEFORE!)

I think the biggest issue for you would be humidity. Especially with water to your west.

Temperatures moderate during Monsoon and the "spectacle" of the rain acts as a consolation for us -- people stop what they are doing and

But, our rains tend to be pretty intense -- none of the "drizzle" sort of thing that we see in other parts of the country. Someone is always getting "rescued" because they drove across an overrun street and their car got stuck or washed away. (many places where water is likely to run don't merit a formal bridge/crossing; the road just dips into that area as it would TEND to be dry, most of the year -- except when it isn't! :> )

And, as I mentioned wrt microclimate, you can drive a few blocks in any direction and it will be raining -- or not. A standing joke is how the streets are wet around one of the hospitals and dry elsewhere (it seems to ALWAYS rain there). Look towards the sky and you can see no rain, virga or real rain over various parts of town.

Likewise with temperatures. We're a few degrees colder (in winter) than the homes just a few blocks south of us as evidenced by a delay in when identical plants will first flower here vs. there. Of course, if you climb into the mountains (another 5000 ft in elevation), things are expectedly different.

There is a site that summarizes readings from "citizen weather stations" around town (likely around the country). It is entertaining to see the variations and wonder how many are "real" vs. "poorly sited".

The text is.

I remember a heatwave in London, end of June, start of July, 1976, on my first visit. Buses were horrible, way hotter than in Spain (without AC). Simply said, buses had no windows to open.

I heard that the situation has not improved.

Yes, some people blame the USA for their climate. I guess the heat makes them crabby.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

But not wrong.

Back in 1917 there wasn't any signficant global warming - the warming didn't start sticking out above the natural variation until the 1990's.

Once China industrialised it started catching up and is now level-pegging with the European Union, but its carbon emissions recently stopped rising. The US is definitely the worst offender, and looks likely to stay there for while.