I do think this idea that heating a home is natural and understandable while cooling one with AC is unnecessary and “luxurious” is rooted in the relative newness of AC, coupled with Western/European bias towards colder climates as “normal.” But we really need to get over it
Not to self aggrandize but I co authored this with a colleague on this issue and I feel pretty good about it www.nrdc.org/bio/juanita-...
The groundbreaking Inflation Reduction Act will support greater access to life-saving and climate-friendly cooling in people’s homes.
Heat waves are the deadliest weather phenomena most years, but somehow the perception persists. Yes it is possible to live without it - until it isn't.
Given the massive efficiency gains that heat pumps have over other forms (oil, wood, gas, electric resistive) I see this similar to the "rolling coal" phenomena, where the excess air pollution and inefficiency is the point.
There's definitely an argument for building homes more conducive to cooling (something plenty of Southern Europeans would jive with), but that's not an argument against AC -- it's just for maximizing AC's efficiency.
Also with the idea that AC dumps adiabatic waste heat into the environment which intrinsically strikes the mind as a kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul kind of energy transaction. Whereas in heating a home we think of the energy used as being more efficient simply because that heat is wanted.
Fr fr! It’s also a kinda online/geographic phenomenon. I do not see people in the southern US calling it a luxury, but it’s a very common sentiment in the NW. It’s a *phenomenal* time to open a heat pump/mini split business catered toward millennials in the NW as we slowly learn the truth.
As a gedanken experiment, let’s imagine telling the folks in Texas that they shouldn’t need heat just because they have an occasional cold snap in winter. Then we could have a follow-up discussion on the collapse of the Texas power grid the last time they DID have a cold snap.
I blame Euro sensibilities for much of this. European notions of hot weather are quaint relative to the rest of the populated world closer to the equator. The sum total of Europe is effectively further north than Virginia; the approximate center of the landmass on the US-Canada border parallel.
It'll get hot enough out that they'll soon have been in favor of it all along.It'll get hot enough out that they'll soon have been in favor of it all along.
I am stubborn about using AC myself (grew up w/out it, feel like I should just suffer through the heat) to the point that I *just* bought an AC for my bedroom (on the 3rd floor of a triple-decker). Framing it this way is genuinely helpful for me, thank you