Iv been monitoring the discourse around this heatwave and its truly bonkers to see people claim this is business as usual. There is the 'Its just summer' crowd(specifically here in the uk) that...
Iv been monitoring the discourse around this heatwave and its truly bonkers to see people claim this is business as usual. There is the 'Its just summer' crowd(specifically here in the uk) that claim this sort of weather happens every summer which is just not true, although will become more frequent. This is countered with ever redder heat maps which fuels their conspiratorial thinking that its all a massive scam for net zero or whatever. There are some seriously unhinged takes out there about the current weather which I don't even know how to try unpick.
As sad as this story is I wonder if it will have an impact on the climate change deniers as it isn't the apocalyptic catastrophe they think scientists are predicting.
Many have changed their minds since the 90s, and many more will, but some stubborn nutjobs would rather die from heat stroke in Island than admit they were wrong. There were reports of people...
Many have changed their minds since the 90s, and many more will, but some stubborn nutjobs would rather die from heat stroke in Island than admit they were wrong. There were reports of people claiming it's just a bad cold when they were dying from Covid.
And in 100 years we will still see the tiny but loud minority who claims climate change is a hoax, wondering how they can say that when whole cities are eaten by the ocean and unprecedented hoards of refugees are romaing the Earth.
After a cancer diagnosis some people given 6 months to live claim everything’s okay and the doctors are just wrong. Certain types of people just can’t accept bad news.
After a cancer diagnosis some people given 6 months to live claim everything’s okay and the doctors are just wrong. Certain types of people just can’t accept bad news.
I rather see this as a turning point, I don't think the political discourse about climate change and its consequences can remain the same after this summer, I already see a change of tone in media...
I rather see this as a turning point, I don't think the political discourse about climate change and its consequences can remain the same after this summer, I already see a change of tone in media and public discourse.
Because the other excess deaths during heat waves can be blameshifted (“Oh, he had a heart attack” or “She’s been sick for a long time”). Drowning is happening because people are actively trying...
Because the other excess deaths during heat waves can be blameshifted (“Oh, he had a heart attack” or “She’s been sick for a long time”). Drowning is happening because people are actively trying to cool off.
The ableism of "they were the most vulnerable" with any sort of disaster is incredibly stark. As if it doesn't matter and it is more OK. Because they're the weak.
The ableism of "they were the most vulnerable" with any sort of disaster is incredibly stark.
As if it doesn't matter and it is more OK. Because they're the weak.
That's my response any time my very naive mother tells me "things won't get that bad" in response to my lamentations for the future. Things already are "that bad" in many ways for many people....
That's my response any time my very naive mother tells me "things won't get that bad" in response to my lamentations for the future. Things already are "that bad" in many ways for many people. What she really means is things won't get that bad for us, which is also arguably wrong, but even if true it doesn't bring me much comfort.
Not saying this is the case because I haven’t seen the statistics, but if this contributes to a greater share of deaths of young people dying from heat, that’s a possible signal that people will...
Not saying this is the case because I haven’t seen the statistics, but if this contributes to a greater share of deaths of young people dying from heat, that’s a possible signal that people will notice.
In Brasov, Romania it snowed like three times this winter? 20 years ago we were used to being buried in snow regularly. The shift is very jarring and very noticeable. Summer seems pretty standard...
In Brasov, Romania it snowed like three times this winter?
20 years ago we were used to being buried in snow regularly. The shift is very jarring and very noticeable.
Summer seems pretty standard although it does trend hotter than usual.
In the northeast US, winters have actually been getting harsher. One of the weird things about climate change is that it tends to make local weather more extreme, but not exclusively warmer.
In the northeast US, winters have actually been getting harsher. One of the weird things about climate change is that it tends to make local weather more extreme, but not exclusively warmer.
This does not line up with my experience, it might depend on what you mean by “northeast”. New England winters are definitely shorter and warmer than they were 20-25 years ago.
This does not line up with my experience, it might depend on what you mean by “northeast”. New England winters are definitely shorter and warmer than they were 20-25 years ago.
Fair enough, I technically meant "Mid-Atlantic". New Jersey this year had several consecutive weeks of below-freezing weather, such that over a foot of snow remained on the ground for over two...
Fair enough, I technically meant "Mid-Atlantic". New Jersey this year had several consecutive weeks of below-freezing weather, such that over a foot of snow remained on the ground for over two weeks. Nothing like that has ever happened here since I was born, that I can remember (and we were wholly unprepared for it)
Also from the UK and can't see how people can think this is normal summer weather any more. The odd little spike we used to get? Sure easier to explain away, but given how just May and now June...
Also from the UK and can't see how people can think this is normal summer weather any more. The odd little spike we used to get? Sure easier to explain away, but given how just May and now June have gone this year with extremes of heat and for the time of year wet weather... very different story.
Not 100% sure if this is still the case but initial forecasting for this week had us set to break the all time peak temperature record for the country in just June, so if patterns hold it would have also likely then been broken in July and August in turn.
There's a weird sliding denial window where older people selectively don't remember how things used to be and younger people never experienced it. Where I grew up, in the 90s the concept of a...
There's a weird sliding denial window where older people selectively don't remember how things used to be and younger people never experienced it.
Where I grew up, in the 90s the concept of a "green Christmas" seemed liked a strange novelty. We had hip deep snow (for a child, so knee deep, anyway) on the ground from mid December up through early March.
Now it snows a few inches, melts and repeats the cycle all winter. It's just dead grass and mud, and skiing places are leaning hard on artificial snow. The mountains don't have the height of ones out west, so they're more affected by the overall heat.
Younger people have never experienced a real northern winter, and a bunch of 60+ people insist nothing's changed, just that "sometimes the weather is different."
yea I think the climate change denial lobby are going to be working overtime for this one because you can't really argue with the physical aspect of this weather.
yea I think the climate change denial lobby are going to be working overtime for this one because you can't really argue with the physical aspect of this weather.
I live in Belgium (bordering the north of France), and... yeah, that's rough. It's been at least 30° since this weekend, and the temperatures are expected to still rise up to 38° on Saturday. Yet...
I live in Belgium (bordering the north of France), and... yeah, that's rough. It's been at least 30° since this weekend, and the temperatures are expected to still rise up to 38° on Saturday. Yet we're still "cooler" than most parts of France that already went up to 40°.
Meanwhile, all our goverments can do is publish bullshit like "drink water" and "find a cool place". We will all suffer and no-one will ever be held responsible.
I’m going to guess that in Belgium, much like the rest of Europe that you don’t have anything like window box ACs that you can rely on? There are other techniques for cooling houses, but they’re...
I’m going to guess that in Belgium, much like the rest of Europe that you don’t have anything like window box ACs that you can rely on? There are other techniques for cooling houses, but they’re often only useful if you have the means to implement them. Although even a swamp cooler would be useful at this point.
I live in Texas, it’s 32C and my HVAC is running right now. And so are several of my fans to help push the air around. Without them, this place becomes quickly uninhabitable. My power went off for about 10 minutes today, something that’s happening more and more often here in Texas. Every time my power goes out I think to myself “I’m not equipped to deal with this kind of heat.” One of the first things I do during a long power outage is to plug my fans into my power backups so that I can at least move the air around a little and cool down some.
For those of you in the parts of the world that haven’t had to deal with this for decades, you have my sympathy.
Window boxes basically don't exist here. AC is becoming more common in newer buildings, but still really rare in older houses. The mentality has always been "we don't need it for the 1 or 2 hot...
I ’m going to guess that in Belgium, much like the rest of Europe that you don’t have anything like window box ACs that you can rely on?
Window boxes basically don't exist here. AC is becoming more common in newer buildings, but still really rare in older houses. The mentality has always been "we don't need it for the 1 or 2 hot weeks in a year". Each time we power through it, each time we suffer a bit and pat ourselves on the back once it's over.
But this year is the breaking point for me, and we'll invest in a multi-split.
There always comes a breaking point, and as insufferable as it is to say… it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. I’ve lived in 100°F weather for weeks at a time without any sort of...
There always comes a breaking point, and as insufferable as it is to say… it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.
I’ve lived in 100°F weather for weeks at a time without any sort of air-conditioning, and my only respite was escaping to the shade under a swamp cooler where the temperature was closer to the low 80s. But because I was in an arid desert area, and the humidity point was actually quite low, it wasn’t as insufferable as when I’ve been in 86° weather with humidity up over 60% with no AC.
In humid weather, the heat clings to you and you have a harder time sweating it out. I don’t think I’ve ever made it to the wet bulb temperature/humidity, but I have come damn close.
Humidity really does make it so much worse — both hot weather and cold weather. I moved from Georgia (USA) to Victoria (Australia). Victoria has hotter, drier summers than Georgia and warmer,...
Humidity really does make it so much worse — both hot weather and cold weather.
I moved from Georgia (USA) to Victoria (Australia). Victoria has hotter, drier summers than Georgia and warmer, wetter winters. I strongly prefer a dry 40°C (104°C) here over a wet 30°C (86°F) back home, and I likewise strongly prefer a dry -5°C (23°F) back home over a wet 5°C (41°F) here.
I live in DFW right on the Trinity River, and we get the best and worst of both worlds depending on the season. Our summers tend to be dry and hot, except when they decide to be wet and hot with a...
I live in DFW right on the Trinity River, and we get the best and worst of both worlds depending on the season. Our summers tend to be dry and hot, except when they decide to be wet and hot with a side order of tornadoes. Our springs and autumns tend to be hot and wet or cold and wet, with samplings of dense fogs and flash flooding. And our winters can’t make up their dang minds and just do all of it at once three or four times a day with some frost and sometimes snow mixed in to keep it entertaining.
I'm in France right now for a week or two and it's 28 degrees at 9am, then shoots up to 40 around 2-3pm. Multiple days in a row now. This basically means you must do nothing and siesta during noon...
I'm in France right now for a week or two and it's 28 degrees at 9am, then shoots up to 40 around 2-3pm. Multiple days in a row now.
This basically means you must do nothing and siesta during noon and early afternoon because it's otherwise too dangerous to do anything.
40 C is what, 104 F? That's pretty brutal no matter where you are, and definitely dangerous depending on how humid it is. I live in the southeastern US and we're used to and equipped for high heat...
40 C is what, 104 F? That's pretty brutal no matter where you are, and definitely dangerous depending on how humid it is. I live in the southeastern US and we're used to and equipped for high heat and humidity, but I can't imagine trying to deal with them without AC.
Not sure about france humidity wise but a bit further north in the south of England at the moment it's around 70%/80% and between 34C/95F and 38C/100F. It's unpleasant.
Not sure about france humidity wise but a bit further north in the south of England at the moment it's around 70%/80% and between 34C/95F and 38C/100F. It's unpleasant.
Hate to say this, but that temperature/humidity range isn't just unpleasant, it's unsafe for humans. Not "just" elderly people, but children, people who have to work outdoors for any length of...
Hate to say this, but that temperature/humidity range isn't just unpleasant, it's unsafe for humans. Not "just" elderly people, but children, people who have to work outdoors for any length of time, people with illnesses...
We're not quite in "Ministry for the Future" situations of people being parboiled to death, but there's no reason to continue tolerating where we are now.
That number immediately seemed generous to me. I don't remember the temperature or humidity that day, but I distinctly remember going to the library with my grandmother in high school. We parked...
People often point to a study published in 2010 that theorized that a wet-bulb temperature of 95 F (35 C) – equal to a temperature of 95 F at 100% humidity, or 115 F at 50% humidity – would be the upper limit of safety, beyond which the human body can no longer cool itself by evaporating sweat from the surface of the body to maintain a stable body core temperature.
That number immediately seemed generous to me. I don't remember the temperature or humidity that day, but I distinctly remember going to the library with my grandmother in high school. We parked fairly close to the entrance, so a very short walk we'd made dozens, if not hundreds of times.
By the time we got inside, I was completely winded and we needed to pause to just catch our breaths. Just from a short walk. And while I can't remember the exact temperature, I knew it wasn't as extreme as other days that summer where I'd been able to walk just fine. The difference was the high humidity: the combination with the heat made it nearly impossible to breathe.
That's the day where it clicked for me just how dangerous high humidity is. Ever since I've always said I'd prefer 100 F and dry heat over 80 and humid, because at least in dry heat I'm not struggling to just breathe.
A related anecdote: the one time I actually felt like anti-maskers could have a point with that "I can't breathe" line was when we went to New York City in a heat wave in 2021. Temperatures in the 90s, and high humidity, made being outside hellish. I'm pretty sure the reason this one drug store was so crowded was just because people needed out of the heat. We hailed a taxi one day because the subway system was too hot and miserable. At one point my mom and I bought cheap folding fans from a tourist-trap shop to fan ourselves, and it actually helped.
The humid heat made breathing hard enough normally, and the masks made it all worse because it was trapping our breaths against our faces. In retrospect, we might be lucky the pandemic didn't start in a heatwave because I think a lot more people would have eschewed masks because they'd genuinely struggle to breathe with them.
Not British, but from my understanding, it’s uncommon. Also made worse by the fact that a lot of houses are masonry or stone that are intended to retain heat, which becomes a problems when things...
Not British, but from my understanding, it’s uncommon. Also made worse by the fact that a lot of houses are masonry or stone that are intended to retain heat, which becomes a problems when things don’t cool off in the evening.
Yep. Plus you're trying to cool down the house with fans alone on nights that aren't dropping down too much. People seem to be resorting foil over the windows to try and reduce the speed the house...
Yep. Plus you're trying to cool down the house with fans alone on nights that aren't dropping down too much. People seem to be resorting foil over the windows to try and reduce the speed the house heats up.
When I saw it was a YouTube link about awnings, I really should have guessed it was from that channel, of course that would be the place to find an incredibly deep dive into something so mundane
When I saw it was a YouTube link about awnings, I really should have guessed it was from that channel, of course that would be the place to find an incredibly deep dive into something so mundane
Maybe I’m dumb but this is the argument I’ve never understood. Insulation works both ways, right? We insulate our houses here in Texas even though it’s for the heat.
made worse by the fact that a lot of houses are masonry or stone that are intended to retain heat
Maybe I’m dumb but this is the argument I’ve never understood. Insulation works both ways, right? We insulate our houses here in Texas even though it’s for the heat.
There's a few different mechanisms for how a house is kept warm. Modern blown or sheet insulation prevents heating within the house from leaking out in the winter and heat from coming in in the...
There's a few different mechanisms for how a house is kept warm. Modern blown or sheet insulation prevents heating within the house from leaking out in the winter and heat from coming in in the summer, but it depends on active heating/cooling to maintain the differential.
A stone/masonry house is in part a massive heat battery that's slow to change temperature. As such, it can handle hot days and cool nights because the overall temperature swing up during the day is balanced out by cooler nights. Think of a stone house as much like a cave; it helps sustain the inside at the local average temperature. When that average temperature rises too high, it's also very hard to bring that down because you're trying to cool not just the interior air but also all of the thermal mass of the stone/brick.
That makes sense. It's essentially like a capacitor so it "tries" to resist the change in temperature, so if the days get too hot for too long, it doesn't have time to passively cool down enough...
That makes sense. It's essentially like a capacitor so it "tries" to resist the change in temperature, so if the days get too hot for too long, it doesn't have time to passively cool down enough over night.
Masonry is not insulation. Insulation uses material that doesn't conduct heat easily (which, in effect, is usually material that traps air — like foam and double-glazed windows — because stagnant...
Masonry is not insulation. Insulation uses material that doesn't conduct heat easily (which, in effect, is usually material that traps air — like foam and double-glazed windows — because stagnant air is particularly resistant to conducting heat), whereas stone/bricks/concrete conduct heat very readily. This is why they feel cooler to the touch than, say, wood; they're conducting your body heat away faster than wood can.
There's AC in some shops and restaurants, plus driving somewhere is cool enough. As always when dealing with heat, lots of shade and water will get you through the day and a lot of sitting around...
There's AC in some shops and restaurants, plus driving somewhere is cool enough. As always when dealing with heat, lots of shade and water will get you through the day and a lot of sitting around moving slowly. The humidity today was mild, averaging at about 40-45%. I fear going back to the Netherlands where the humidity is a lot higher by default and the temps are looking similarly inhospitable.
We had a big heat event a few years ago where temps hit an all time record for us. Usually people drive kind of fast in this city but everybody was driving super slow enjoying their car AC before...
driving somewhere is cool enough.
We had a big heat event a few years ago where temps hit an all time record for us. Usually people drive kind of fast in this city but everybody was driving super slow enjoying their car AC before they got home to no AC. Probably went from 60kph average speed to 40kph.
What you’re describing matches what I would expect for late Summer in Melbourne, Australia. You know, that country that’s like 80% uninhabitable desert? Where we’ve expected those kinds of...
28 degrees at 9am, then shoots up to 40 around 2-3pm. Multiple days in a row now.
What you’re describing matches what I would expect for late Summer in Melbourne, Australia. You know, that country that’s like 80% uninhabitable desert? Where we’ve expected those kinds of temperatures such that it’s literally illegal to rent out a house without air conditioning? Where we’ve had decades and decades of experience with that kind of weather and still struggle with those temperatures?
And it’s only June? In Melbourne I would be genuinely startled to have those kinds of temperatures in December or fairly surprised in January, and maybe start to expect maybe a week of that kind of heat in February, once the land has had a whole two months of summer to bake and hold onto heat before it can finally reach those kinds of temperatures.
It’s only going to get hotter. The only short term solution compatible with life is getting AC. As a bonus, most modern units can also act as heat pumps in the winter, since the usual refrain I...
It’s only going to get hotter. The only short term solution compatible with life is getting AC. As a bonus, most modern units can also act as heat pumps in the winter, since the usual refrain I hear is “why would I get an AC unit for a few months in the summer?” - it’s also more efficient heating in the winter.
This is what deeply frustrated me when living in Germany. Germans would be very resistant to adding AC and whinging about legislation to require heat pumps in new builds (and eventually getting it...
This is what deeply frustrated me when living in Germany. Germans would be very resistant to adding AC and whinging about legislation to require heat pumps in new builds (and eventually getting it repealed), but then whenever AC came up would insist that it's inefficient and bad for the environment, which simply isn't true of modern heat pump-based systems when you factor in the more efficient heating in winters. It's utterly faux environmentalism to disguise a conservative resistance to changing or updating anything, and thousands of vulnerable people will die heat-related deaths as a result. Germany actually has more deaths caused by extreme heat per year than the US does, despite having a much smaller population.
Needless to say, despite not having much control over when I moved from Germany back to the US, I'm happy to have done so prior to the current heat wave. It's been bad previous summers but the temperatures I'm hearing about now are freaking dangerous.
I did exactly this - bought a portable AC unit that utilises a heat pump and has both heating and cooling functions. Costs much less to run than expected, and me and the dog are relaxing at a...
I did exactly this - bought a portable AC unit that utilises a heat pump and has both heating and cooling functions. Costs much less to run than expected, and me and the dog are relaxing at a comfortable 19°c, whilst its touching 32°c outside.
As an aside, people gave me strange looks for putting solar panels and a battery in the house as one of the first major renovations i did when i moved into my current place nearly 3 years ago. Now i can run an AC without feeling the effects of it on my utility bills during these "freak and infrequent" UK heatwaves.
From my personal experience there have been record summers and winters for a while now. I have to say I am ecstatic about the predicted 38° temperatures. We have known about climate change for...
From my personal experience there have been record summers and winters for a while now. I have to say I am ecstatic about the predicted 38° temperatures.
We have known about climate change for half a century now.
And yet nearly nothing. This is a steady saturation of sinks, elimination of tolerances and starting a slow slide, like an avalanche. Once the climate change is majorly negatively felt by large amoint of normal people it will be late enough that even drastic action will not avoid massive consequences.
Best time to something about climate change was about a century ago but the half of a century would have also been fantastic.
...So, the article and headline have been updated to say 40 people have drowned. And the Louvre and Eiffel Tower are closing early due to the heat. My mom also reported hearing about one train in...
...So, the article and headline have been updated to say 40 people have drowned.
My mom also reported hearing about one train in the UK stopping mid-route because the engineer just reached their limit. Don't know how true that one is, but London's trains are largely shutting down or delaying service due to the heatwave.
To everyone in Europe, please be safe and try to stay somewhere cool!
I just moved into a new appartment in France that is “well insulated” according to the owner. It’s 42 outside during the day, 30 at night. We could t even stay in our apartment yesterday so we had...
I just moved into a new appartment in France that is “well insulated” according to the owner.
It’s 42 outside during the day, 30 at night. We could t even stay in our apartment yesterday so we had to waste the whole day just sitting in the (air conditioned) mall. We closed all (outside) blinds and windows. When we came back after 9pm, inside temperature was 40 degrees. And there is nothing we can do: there are no laws that set maximum allowed heat in residential buildings, owners solution is “go buy an AC”, everywhere is sold out and they only sell the mobile ones with a single pipe anyway (which heat as much as they cool), and we’re SoL. Didn’t sleep until 3 am when the inside temperature dropped below 35.
It’s a nightmare. It’s the third day of summer and the second heatwave already.
Unfortunately France is very anti-AC especially in the cities. If you want to install a permanent unit you have to jump through so many administrative hoops it's basically impossible. We own our...
Unfortunately France is very anti-AC especially in the cities. If you want to install a permanent unit you have to jump through so many administrative hoops it's basically impossible. We own our place and have been trying to figure this out for years. Basically to get approval you need permission from the copropriété (equivalent to an Home Owners Association), then ask the Mairie for permission which involves filling in a bunch of stupidly long forms (I'm talking 40 pages +) only to be told no because it ruins the external aesthetics of the building. The only viable alternative is connecting to something like cold water network if it exists in the city (like Fraîcheur de Paris) but it also involves a positive vote from the majority of other home owners in the building to spend several thousands to install the system in the building (good luck with that). It can't be done at the individual scale.
Assuming you're in Paris or equivalent, it's quite possible your landlord can't do much other than provide a mobile unit, or illegally install an air conditioning unit (and very likely get caught when the neighbours rat him out).
We ended up buying a split mobile unit like this one which is bulky and expensive but it's saved our sanity. Since it's not a permanent installation it's allowed by the city. It still requires leaving the window ajar to let the hose pass, but it's miles better than the regular mobile unit. We thought it was overkill when we got it 3 years ago, but boy did we make the right decision back then. We're still looking for a more permanent solution as I expect this is only going to get worse over time.
I think ultimately they'll need to relax rules around air-conditioning or a lot more people are going to die.
Not in Paris thankfully but in a city that gets heatwaves. I can’t use a mobile split like yours because I’m not on the ground floor so there is nowhere to put the outside exchanger. It does look...
Not in Paris thankfully but in a city that gets heatwaves. I can’t use a mobile split like yours because I’m not on the ground floor so there is nowhere to put the outside exchanger. It does look like a much more efficient solution that the ridiculous mobile units with a single pipe that are available anywhere (well except right now)
Yes. First of all if you’re renting you can forget about it, the owner won’t want to pay for it. But also, you need a permit and that’s an ordeal. And then you have to get it cleaned...
Yes. First of all if you’re renting you can forget about it, the owner won’t want to pay for it. But also, you need a permit and that’s an ordeal. And then you have to get it cleaned professionally every year if you want to follow the law, you can’t do it yourself.
I don't know if it's an honest and useful tip, but you could probably find all sort of "temporary" installations rendering the external aesthetic arguments absurd.
I don't know if it's an honest and useful tip, but you could probably find all sort of "temporary" installations rendering the external aesthetic arguments absurd.
In a lot of historic French cities or towns, any permanent change to the external aspect of the building above a certain size needs approval from urban planning (in addition to the copropriété),...
In a lot of historic French cities or towns, any permanent change to the external aspect of the building above a certain size needs approval from urban planning (in addition to the copropriété), including installing a small vent or drilling a hole bigger than a tennis ball. They even decide what colour your guardrails are allowed to be at city-wide scale.
Whatever way you try to circumvent the rules, all it takes is one disgruntled neighbour (and there's always at least one) to complain and the mairie will will force you put everything back exactly as it was. That's assuming the copropriété doesn't take you to court first. You can try to hide a permanent fixture behind something "temporary" but someone is bound to catch it at some point.
I get it to an extent. Cities like Paris and Bordeaux are very protective of their historic buildings (which also make up a lot of residential buildings) inside the cities. Slapping a bunch of air conditioning units on them will ruin the aesthetics. But when people start dropping like flies I don't think there will be much choice (unless the cold water system becomes a lot cheaper and easier to install).
It sounds like your apartment is well insulated. Insulation works great when you're artificially heating and cooling your home, but if it's hot outside and you don't have A/C, insulation is...
It sounds like your apartment is well insulated. Insulation works great when you're artificially heating and cooling your home, but if it's hot outside and you don't have A/C, insulation is stifling — usually worse than being outdoors.
Historically, homes in hot climates made uses of cross breezes (using strategically placed windows, doors, courtyards, and covered walkways) to passively cool buildings in the summer.
If it's possible, I recommend trying to replicate this in your apartment using windows/doors — and fans if you have them. What you want to do is draw in cooler outdoor air (generally located lower to the ground and in shade) and push out hotter indoor air (generally located near the ceiling and in upper storeys). Remember that hot air rises, so you want to let it out and provide a way for cooler air to come in to replace it.
30°C at night sounds like a nightmare compared to the 42 during the day. When I used to live in the south, the main thing that helped during heatwave was the low night temperature, which allowed...
30°C at night sounds like a nightmare compared to the 42 during the day. When I used to live in the south, the main thing that helped during heatwave was the low night temperature, which allowed us to cool down the house and keep things tolerable during the day. At 30, that's hardly possible.
That’s what I’ll end up doing. I’d really like a two pipe monobloc unit but right now you’re lucky to find any AC or fan at all everywhere is sold out, so…
That’s what I’ll end up doing. I’d really like a two pipe monobloc unit but right now you’re lucky to find any AC or fan at all everywhere is sold out, so…
The thing is they don’t sell the two pipes at all. Because they cost more and the energy labels are so poorly designed that they look like they have the same energy cost as the single pipe. So...
The thing is they don’t sell the two pipes at all. Because they cost more and the energy labels are so poorly designed that they look like they have the same energy cost as the single pipe. So nobody wants to pay more because they don’t see the point, and so they don’t sell, and so no store stocks them.
I had one from Inventum which I think is a relabeled Midea one. We currently have a Midea portasplit which actually does have a physical outdoor unit but fixed plumbing. Meaning you don't need to...
I had one from Inventum which I think is a relabeled Midea one.
We currently have a Midea portasplit which actually does have a physical outdoor unit but fixed plumbing. Meaning you don't need to have it installed by someone, though if you rent some landlords will not like the outdoor unit even though it is easily removable.
Anyway, currently all stock will be sold out anyway. That's how it always works around heatwaves.
I'm hearing lots of "we need more AC", but i'm smack in the middle of the hotspot, in a city, and i find it very managable with a fan and lots of cold drinks. (Btw, not saying it's not hotter than...
I'm hearing lots of "we need more AC", but i'm smack in the middle of the hotspot, in a city, and i find it very managable with a fan and lots of cold drinks.
(Btw, not saying it's not hotter than it used to be, it absolutely is)
AC would be more comfortable? sure,
Necessary? No, not yet anyway.
Now obviously how your home manages heat is important (my home is below average for this), with some horrible saunas out there, but AC is the worse solution for those. Those shouldn't exist, or be renovated, and AC making it viable is stoping us from realising we should build them better!
AC is the easy, one size fits all, but unthoughtfull solution which we therefor gravitate toward instead of changing anything important to how we do things.
Now many AC are reversible, so I guess if thats what it take to get everyone to install heatpumps, why not. It does sound too good to be true so I'm cautious here, plenty of greenwashing these days (i've even heard recently the argument that electric bike are better than regular bike because electricity is more efficient than metabolising food... Which is technically true, but so so dumb...)
I'd say the necessity depends on a mixture of local humidity, the building's construction, the surrounding area, and your personal tolerance for heat. If you're in a top-floor apartment with no...
I'd say the necessity depends on a mixture of local humidity, the building's construction, the surrounding area, and your personal tolerance for heat. If you're in a top-floor apartment with no surrounding trees or architecture to block out direct sunlight, and a building that just traps heat? A fan and cold drinks may not be enough. And not everyone has the option or means to tear down a house not built for heatwaves and build something better.
One fun anecdote that comes to mind is how when my mom was a college student in the 70's, her campus got a new dorm building that had rooms with AC. Students with asthma got priority because heat was an actual health concern for them, and they became very popular on hot days.
well yes, but people keep hiding behind the poor and old to justify loosening regulation, even though the vast majority of people installing an AC are neither poor nor old... The poor tend to rent...
And not everyone has the option or means to tear down a house not built for heatwaves and build something better.
well yes, but people keep hiding behind the poor and old to justify loosening regulation, even though the vast majority of people installing an AC are neither poor nor old...
The poor tend to rent rather than own. Insulating the home is payed for by the landlord. The electric bill for the AC is paid for by the tenant. How is loosening regulation against AC better for the poor than mandating renovation of steamer-home?
You don't have to be poor to be unable to afford demolition and reconstruction, or major renovation projects to make a house more suitable for extreme heat. I don't know what house ownership is...
You don't have to be poor to be unable to afford demolition and reconstruction, or major renovation projects to make a house more suitable for extreme heat. I don't know what house ownership is like in Europe, but here in the US there are plenty of homeowners who are comfortably middle-class but still can't afford large-scale projects without saving up for years. We also have many homeowners who are poor, to the point we have the term "house poor" to describe people whose houses consume the majority of their income.
For many people, it's more feasible to make adjustments and smaller renovations as the funds and opportunity arise. And even then, those sorts of projects take a LOT of time to do right, time that can have you totally displaced from your house. Installing AC is one of those things that may be the best option because it's the one they can afford at the time without having to move to a hotel or other house. Again, I don't know what Europe is like, but surely home ownership isn't restricted to the uber-wealthy who can easily afford to renovate or rebuild a house at any given time.
I'll be blunt: your comments and responses are coming off as judgmental and almost snobbish towards people who have or want AC. I want to re-emphasize, everyone's situation is different. You can bear the heat just fine, but not everyone can. The conditions in your area may be more tolerable than an identical house a mile away due to factors like surrounding foliage and buildings to block out the sun, and even being in a different microclimate. The commonly suggested tricks to deal with heat without AC may not be available as options for reasons ranging from affordability, time constraints, the house's location and internal setup, and more. Even when people can do those tricks, they might not be enough on their own to make a meaningful difference.
And everyone's heat tolerance is different. Some people can't bear extreme heat for legitimate medical reasons, while others just don't handle heat well.
I get that AC isn't a magical solution and there are long-term solutions that should be prioritized. Those fixes take time and money though, and in the meantime, these heat waves are going to continue. I prefer the path that has less people potentially die from heatstroke because they don't have the means or ability to update their house, especially when there's an available option that they CAN afford.
This type of comment is genuinely useful to me to gauge how things can be perceived and eventually adapt. That said, what are you suggesting? I should just agree with everyone else's preference,...
your comments and responses are coming off as judgmental and almost snobbish
This type of comment is genuinely useful to me to gauge how things can be perceived and eventually adapt.
That said, what are you suggesting?
I should just agree with everyone else's preference, even when my own experience contradicts it?
It's acceptable to thrust externalities on others so long as you can frame yourself as part of some struggling underclass?
Some people haven't even tried using a fan and I should just go "you know what, you're right, you've clearly tried everything, go AC"!
I prefer the path that has less people potentially die from heatstroke
Good, I'm also opposed to people dying. Put ACs in retirement homes, libraries and hospitals. But regular people can tank the heat (I'm not some mutant heat survivor... If anything I'm below average). ACs are yet another tool that allow people to ignore the climate problem, i don't think it's vertuous to let those tools become mainstream.
The reversible heat pumps are a definite game changer, because it means you are displacing (typically fossil) boilers. For e-bikes, the biggest benefit is that they encourage cycling for folks who...
The reversible heat pumps are a definite game changer, because it means you are displacing (typically fossil) boilers.
For e-bikes, the biggest benefit is that they encourage cycling for folks who might not have done so otherwise and create mode shifts. Being able to easily climb a hill and not arrive sweaty someplace is a big deal.
I have a coworker who bikes to work most days, and he jokes about how driving is cheaper and he can't afford the fuel for biking. Well, it's only kind of a joke because it's actually true that...
I have a coworker who bikes to work most days, and he jokes about how driving is cheaper and he can't afford the fuel for biking. Well, it's only kind of a joke because it's actually true that it's more expensive to eat enough to bike 2 hours a day (1 hour each way) than it is to buy the gas for the same trip by car.
Well, i did say it is technically true. Kudos to your coworker for the dedication. But the vast majority of people don't bike that much, when your commute is 20-30min each way, just do that...
Well, i did say it is technically true.
Kudos to your coworker for the dedication.
But the vast majority of people don't bike that much, when your commute is 20-30min each way, just do that instead of going to the gym... Most people living in the western world don't need to up their calories intake, and would benefit from more regular exercise.
It's actually crazy to me how everyone jumps onto AC when practically nobody owns a ceiling fan AND ACs a significant energy drain (which is just going to make climate change worse! Is this the...
It's actually crazy to me how everyone jumps onto AC when practically nobody owns a ceiling fan AND ACs a significant energy drain (which is just going to make climate change worse! Is this the same website where there's someone hating on environmental impacts of AI any time it's relevant???). While living in Mumbai those were absolutely amazing at keeping the area cool. Meanwhile shitty portable AC units were barely helpful.
Do you also judge people who heat their home in the winter? I could just use more blankets. I live in a high humidity country, in an older brick house (with a renovated and well-insulated attic,...
Do you also judge people who heat their home in the winter? I could just use more blankets.
I live in a high humidity country, in an older brick house (with a renovated and well-insulated attic, though). The sun hits my kitchen dome skylight and the back facade all afternoon. You can feel the heat radiating from the walls inside. It was 31°C inside yesterday evening, I'm not sure a ceiling fan will make things more tolerable. Don't suggest cheap tips or tricks to cool my home, I know them all, and I'm already using them.
Renovating that house to make it passively heat resistant would probably cost as much as buying a new one. Installing a reversible AC is affordable (all things considered), and will also lower my dependency on fossil fuels.
I do judge people who insist they have a god given right to a 22° C home in the winter and summer instead of just using one more blanket or using a fan. You're not sure ceiling fans will work, but...
Do you also judge people who heat their home in the winter? I could just use more blankets.
I do judge people who insist they have a god given right to a 22° C home in the winter and summer instead of just using one more blanket or using a fan.
It was 31°C inside yesterday evening, I'm not sure a ceiling fan will make things more tolerable. Don't suggest cheap tips or tricks to cool my home, I know them all, and I'm already using them.
You're not sure ceiling fans will work, but you're allready using them? how does that work?
If 31°C inside in the evening is intolerable to you, maybe you don't actually know all the tips and tricks...
by all means do get a good reversible AC (as you say, it could lower your overall fossil fuel dependency) but all the "cheap tricks" will still help lower your energy bills and AC wear, they shouldn't be dismissed.
And it's perfectly acceptable for people to butt in with opinions on what you do around your home. "My home, my rules" doesn't work in an interconnected world where your actions impact others (ACs in cities are estimated to increase local outside temperature 0,5 to 2° C from all the hot air they push out).
If you have an alternative then yes, of course. Yes, of course. Or sweaters. Or slippers. Or socks. In houses with poor insulation and no central heating we always did just that. Is this even...
Do you also judge people who heat their home in the winter?
If you have an alternative then yes, of course.
I could just use more blankets.
Yes, of course. Or sweaters. Or slippers. Or socks. In houses with poor insulation and no central heating we always did just that. Is this even controversial?
I live in a high humidity country, in an older brick house (with a renovated and well-insulated attic, though). The sun hits my kitchen dome skylight and the back facade all afternoon. You can feel the heat radiating from the walls inside. It was 31°C inside yesterday evening, I'm not sure a ceiling fan will make things more tolerable.
I just told you that I lived in Mumbai, with very high humidity and well over 30 degrees weather. Ceiling fans are fantastic and they improve AC performance if you do have one, meaning you don't have to use it as much.
In any given room, wouldn't the warmer air tend towards the top of the room, and the cooler toward the bottom. So blowing air from the top, to the bottom would tend to make the seating warmer than...
In any given room, wouldn't the warmer air tend towards the top of the room, and the cooler toward the bottom. So blowing air from the top, to the bottom would tend to make the seating warmer than it would otherwise have been. Apropos of the air movement which might help, but you could get that from floor fans.
the cooling effect of airflow is much more relevant than the temperature gradient, especially for homes (which don't have very high ceilings). that's why fans have a winter mode where they spin in...
the cooling effect of airflow is much more relevant than the temperature gradient, especially for homes (which don't have very high ceilings). that's why fans have a winter mode where they spin in the opposite direction, to mix the air while doing as little perceptible wind as possible.
Floor fans work fine, but will mess up the temp gradient just as much, and are less comfortable (more localised wind, more noise). they are more flexible thought!
I would use my own solar panels to power the AC. I would need a heat pump too, to replace the gas boiler that now heats my water. Beyond the initial sticker price, I see only environmental upsides.
I would use my own solar panels to power the AC. I would need a heat pump too, to replace the gas boiler that now heats my water.
Beyond the initial sticker price, I see only environmental upsides.
Whether or not you own the panels doesn't change much, those panels would be producing elsewhere if you hadn't bought them. or you'd be selling the electricity back to the grid, replacing fossil...
Whether or not you own the panels doesn't change much, those panels would be producing elsewhere if you hadn't bought them. or you'd be selling the electricity back to the grid, replacing fossil sources, if you weren't using it on AC. and solar panels don't work at night.
I like solar panels, it's really cool that you have them, but we've got to stop using them as a "get out of jail" card for over consumption.
Only upsides if you can resist the temptation of setting a lower temperature than strictly necessary.
how many people do you see setting their AC to 30 while using a fan? I haven't seen any: once they get an AC, people set it at 24 (when they are somewhat semi-eco-conscious) and stop thinking about opening windows at night, installing awnings, migrating activities to the coolest room in the house, using a fan, buying an actually well designed home, planting greenery in front of walls.
If you take into account the full lifecycle of an AC, and the usual accompanying lowering of comfort tolerance (somewhat related to Jevons Paradox), I'm not so sure the overall environmental footprint would decrease much.
Absolute consumption is the real target, not efficiency.
I don't. I can't. I do. I have to. Wrong country. Only helps so much. We're at the point that "just do this" is causing people to die. If it helps, I don't need AC for the nights. I'm considering...
stop thinking about opening windows at night, installing awnings, migrating activities to the coolest room in the house, using a fan, buying an actually well designed home, planting greenery in front of walls.
I don't.
I can't.
I do.
I have to.
Wrong country.
Only helps so much.
We're at the point that "just do this" is causing people to die.
If it helps, I don't need AC for the nights. I'm considering it because I just need a single room that's at a normal temperature we can retreat to. This heat is abnormal and will only get worse, consider that when it's already 37°/99f at 60-80% humidity today, let alone next year.. or the one after.
Lowering consumption is a long term plan with long term results, I just need to not die next year because the dew point says I'm no longer compatible with life.
The solar panels are just gravy. I'm overproducing, with my panels facing directly South, and starting in 2027 I'm going to have to pay the utilities for the privilege of overproducing (long story, don't get me started, they fucked up by not strengthening our grid) so I'll be looking to store my overproduction anyway and use that at night. Perhaps an AC or at least a heat pump running at night can use the juice I made during the day.
Thank you. It was still 30° inside and outside yesterday at midnight, I just want to sleep at night and not suffer, without being judged because I didn't bother to check if a ceiling fan pushing...
Thank you.
It was still 30° inside and outside yesterday at midnight, I just want to sleep at night and not suffer, without being judged because I didn't bother to check if a ceiling fan pushing hot air down from my ceiling would somehow magically cool down my home.
Hey, I have the same temp you do. You really owe it to yourself to try a strong fan, they actually are almost magical... (similar to how a hair dryer can feel cold on a wet head even when blasting...
Hey, I have the same temp you do.
You really owe it to yourself to try a strong fan, they actually are almost magical... (similar to how a hair dryer can feel cold on a wet head even when blasting very hot air).
without being judged
empathy doesn't mean immunity from criticism , I agree with you that it's very hot right now, and getting an AC to make it an "other people's problem" is tempting.
Is the concern around air conditioning contributing climate change related to the energy use or something else? Because if we're talking about the former and specifically for France, I don't think...
Is the concern around air conditioning contributing climate change related to the energy use or something else? Because if we're talking about the former and specifically for France, I don't think that's a fair assessment. A lot of the energy comes from nuclear and renewables, especially during summer. Here's today's energy mix for example. If anything, installing heat pumps would be beneficial given that a lot of houses are still heated with gas in winter.
ACs pacify the masses and lowers the urgency of climate action. Funny, barely relevant comic Also, an AC makes some home design choice acceptable (floor to ceiling windows, ignoring sun...
ACs pacify the masses and lowers the urgency of climate action. Funny, barely relevant comic
Also, an AC makes some home design choice acceptable (floor to ceiling windows, ignoring sun orientation, bad natural ventilation) which then get used as a justification to use AC.
Rereading my post, I did mention consumption which is a mistake on my part, as i agree it's not a very strong argument. Even decarbonated energy has an environmental cost, but ACs in a single room are well worth the cost for the comfort provided... A small AC's energy consumption over the summer is only x2-x4 times more than heavy AI use.
That's royally fucked up! do you truly not want to talk about it or may I ask for more? Could you cover up the panel to produce less?
I'm going to have to pay the utilities for the privilege of overproducing (long story, don't get me started, they fucked up by not strengthening our grid)
That's royally fucked up! do you truly not want to talk about it or may I ask for more?
Could you cover up the panel to produce less?
Mostly because I get riled up since it's so monumentally stupid. Cato the Elder said in like 150bc "Thieves of private property pass their lives in chains; thieves of public property in riches and...
Mostly because I get riled up since it's so monumentally stupid. Cato the Elder said in like 150bc "Thieves of private property pass their lives in chains; thieves of public property in riches and luxury." And not to make this into a class warfare post, it's still the same today.
I'm out in the boonies so I don't really have the internet speeds to go and hunt for sources (googling that Cato quote took me multiple minutes), so while it's probably broadly correct, I may miss some nuance or caveat.
More than a decade ago, our government subsidized installing private solar panels through a method that allowed people to offset their use with their generated power 1:1 with the utility companies (salderen) and having them pay the difference in extra production. This was heavily incentivized by the government, broadly encouraged by the utility companies that came with all sorts of package deals to lure the new power sources into their fold, and all sorts of initiatives were launched to get people onto solar panels with heat pumps.
Over time it became apparent we had a grid that wasn't capable of handling such high load during the day when all this solar flooded the grid. This wasn't a problem yet but it would become one in the future. No biggie, we see this coming a mile away so let's future proof the grid.
Utility co's received grants and oodles of public cash for the express purpose of strengthening the grid.
Eventually we started reaching capacity, all the while the utilities started lobbying to repeal the (by now very popular) subsidy and remove the ability for people to "salderen". To give them a little credit, yes this hurt their bottom line so it made sense to start and reduce the amount people could strike from their power bill.
This is taking too long in their eyes so they introduced fees on all new contracts called "return power generation" which penalizes someone for generating more power than they use by instating a flat "X price per KwH over cap", overnight creating a new revenue stream all while decrying people and pleading them to stop generating so much power because it hurts them so much and the grid isn't ready for it.
Starting in 2027, the saldering will end. People that have installed panels will now see an increase in their bill from one end (no longer able to strike 1:1), which is fine, but utility co's also no longer have to pay the difference on additional generated power. However, they will keep their fee intact because "the grid is at capacity". Yeah, they never used those billions to beef up the grid. They just pocketed the money.
So here's the rundown:
encouraged solar panels for private homes for years.
received grants to beef up the grid.
lobbied against having to pay for generated power so they can sell your own power back to you.
created fees for power generated exceeding power used.
never actually beefed up the grid.
posted record profits yearly, 2022 an exceptional war profiteering opportunity for them.
All in all, they get to rake in the cash and ransack the public utilities on three different occasions through the power generation and investment of the individual.
No I can't cover up individual panels as I didn't install individual inverters. Covering up one will disable all power generation. My mistake I guess. Some people can. Others are now installing methods to flip the breaker as soon as they hit their allotted amount. People are buying batteries too (with fiendish merchants trying to upsell you overpriced batteries).
Whatever the case, everyone was told to do their best to get our country to green energy only to be royally fucked by the utility co's and a limp wristed government.
I bought my solar panels because I wanted to invest in a better future, not to make money. I overspecced a little to cover my daily use and it's now going to cost me dearly.
I share a house with some folks, and one of those people physiologically cannot handle temps over ~30 without active cooling methods (lack of sweat glands). There's not much to be done for her,...
I share a house with some folks, and one of those people physiologically cannot handle temps over ~30 without active cooling methods (lack of sweat glands). There's not much to be done for her, but none of what you say is wrong for the 90% of people whose bodies can adapt. The past few years, I've taken to spending 4+ hours outdoors in the heatwaves, a couple before and after midday, and a couple in the evening, and just that exposure has made things so much easier.
Iv been monitoring the discourse around this heatwave and its truly bonkers to see people claim this is business as usual. There is the 'Its just summer' crowd(specifically here in the uk) that claim this sort of weather happens every summer which is just not true, although will become more frequent. This is countered with ever redder heat maps which fuels their conspiratorial thinking that its all a massive scam for net zero or whatever. There are some seriously unhinged takes out there about the current weather which I don't even know how to try unpick.
As sad as this story is I wonder if it will have an impact on the climate change deniers as it isn't the apocalyptic catastrophe they think scientists are predicting.
There have been thousands of deaths in previous heat waves. I don't see this making a dent in the wider discourse.
Yea it will take a heat event similar to the opening chapter of KSRs The ministry for the future before people stop and listen.
Many have changed their minds since the 90s, and many more will, but some stubborn nutjobs would rather die from heat stroke in Island than admit they were wrong. There were reports of people claiming it's just a bad cold when they were dying from Covid.
And in 100 years we will still see the tiny but loud minority who claims climate change is a hoax, wondering how they can say that when whole cities are eaten by the ocean and unprecedented hoards of refugees are romaing the Earth.
After a cancer diagnosis some people given 6 months to live claim everything’s okay and the doctors are just wrong. Certain types of people just can’t accept bad news.
I rather see this as a turning point, I don't think the political discourse about climate change and its consequences can remain the same after this summer, I already see a change of tone in media and public discourse.
What percent of those deaths were drowning versus heat-induced illness?
I don't see why drowning deaths would be more likely to trigger action against climate change than direct heat deaths.
Because the other excess deaths during heat waves can be blameshifted (“Oh, he had a heart attack” or “She’s been sick for a long time”). Drowning is happening because people are actively trying to cool off.
The ableism of "they were the most vulnerable" with any sort of disaster is incredibly stark.
As if it doesn't matter and it is more OK. Because they're the weak.
That's my response any time my very naive mother tells me "things won't get that bad" in response to my lamentations for the future. Things already are "that bad" in many ways for many people. What she really means is things won't get that bad for us, which is also arguably wrong, but even if true it doesn't bring me much comfort.
Not saying this is the case because I haven’t seen the statistics, but if this contributes to a greater share of deaths of young people dying from heat, that’s a possible signal that people will notice.
Where I am it's extremely hard not to notice how every winter seems warmer/shorter than the last.
In Brasov, Romania it snowed like three times this winter?
20 years ago we were used to being buried in snow regularly. The shift is very jarring and very noticeable.
Summer seems pretty standard although it does trend hotter than usual.
In the northeast US, winters have actually been getting harsher. One of the weird things about climate change is that it tends to make local weather more extreme, but not exclusively warmer.
This does not line up with my experience, it might depend on what you mean by “northeast”. New England winters are definitely shorter and warmer than they were 20-25 years ago.
Fair enough, I technically meant "Mid-Atlantic". New Jersey this year had several consecutive weeks of below-freezing weather, such that over a foot of snow remained on the ground for over two weeks. Nothing like that has ever happened here since I was born, that I can remember (and we were wholly unprepared for it)
Could be that individual storms are getting worse? Similar to how there’s more random cold snaps further south.
Also from the UK and can't see how people can think this is normal summer weather any more. The odd little spike we used to get? Sure easier to explain away, but given how just May and now June have gone this year with extremes of heat and for the time of year wet weather... very different story.
Not 100% sure if this is still the case but initial forecasting for this week had us set to break the all time peak temperature record for the country in just June, so if patterns hold it would have also likely then been broken in July and August in turn.
There's a weird sliding denial window where older people selectively don't remember how things used to be and younger people never experienced it.
Where I grew up, in the 90s the concept of a "green Christmas" seemed liked a strange novelty. We had hip deep snow (for a child, so knee deep, anyway) on the ground from mid December up through early March.
Now it snows a few inches, melts and repeats the cycle all winter. It's just dead grass and mud, and skiing places are leaning hard on artificial snow. The mountains don't have the height of ones out west, so they're more affected by the overall heat.
Younger people have never experienced a real northern winter, and a bunch of 60+ people insist nothing's changed, just that "sometimes the weather is different."
yea I think the climate change denial lobby are going to be working overtime for this one because you can't really argue with the physical aspect of this weather.
I live in Belgium (bordering the north of France), and... yeah, that's rough. It's been at least 30° since this weekend, and the temperatures are expected to still rise up to 38° on Saturday. Yet we're still "cooler" than most parts of France that already went up to 40°.
Meanwhile, all our goverments can do is publish bullshit like "drink water" and "find a cool place". We will all suffer and no-one will ever be held responsible.
I’m going to guess that in Belgium, much like the rest of Europe that you don’t have anything like window box ACs that you can rely on? There are other techniques for cooling houses, but they’re often only useful if you have the means to implement them. Although even a swamp cooler would be useful at this point.
I live in Texas, it’s 32C and my HVAC is running right now. And so are several of my fans to help push the air around. Without them, this place becomes quickly uninhabitable. My power went off for about 10 minutes today, something that’s happening more and more often here in Texas. Every time my power goes out I think to myself “I’m not equipped to deal with this kind of heat.” One of the first things I do during a long power outage is to plug my fans into my power backups so that I can at least move the air around a little and cool down some.
For those of you in the parts of the world that haven’t had to deal with this for decades, you have my sympathy.
Window boxes basically don't exist here. AC is becoming more common in newer buildings, but still really rare in older houses. The mentality has always been "we don't need it for the 1 or 2 hot weeks in a year". Each time we power through it, each time we suffer a bit and pat ourselves on the back once it's over.
But this year is the breaking point for me, and we'll invest in a multi-split.
There always comes a breaking point, and as insufferable as it is to say… it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.
I’ve lived in 100°F weather for weeks at a time without any sort of air-conditioning, and my only respite was escaping to the shade under a swamp cooler where the temperature was closer to the low 80s. But because I was in an arid desert area, and the humidity point was actually quite low, it wasn’t as insufferable as when I’ve been in 86° weather with humidity up over 60% with no AC.
In humid weather, the heat clings to you and you have a harder time sweating it out. I don’t think I’ve ever made it to the wet bulb temperature/humidity, but I have come damn close.
Humidity really does make it so much worse — both hot weather and cold weather.
I moved from Georgia (USA) to Victoria (Australia). Victoria has hotter, drier summers than Georgia and warmer, wetter winters. I strongly prefer a dry 40°C (104°C) here over a wet 30°C (86°F) back home, and I likewise strongly prefer a dry -5°C (23°F) back home over a wet 5°C (41°F) here.
I live in DFW right on the Trinity River, and we get the best and worst of both worlds depending on the season. Our summers tend to be dry and hot, except when they decide to be wet and hot with a side order of tornadoes. Our springs and autumns tend to be hot and wet or cold and wet, with samplings of dense fogs and flash flooding. And our winters can’t make up their dang minds and just do all of it at once three or four times a day with some frost and sometimes snow mixed in to keep it entertaining.
I'm in France right now for a week or two and it's 28 degrees at 9am, then shoots up to 40 around 2-3pm. Multiple days in a row now.
This basically means you must do nothing and siesta during noon and early afternoon because it's otherwise too dangerous to do anything.
40 C is what, 104 F? That's pretty brutal no matter where you are, and definitely dangerous depending on how humid it is. I live in the southeastern US and we're used to and equipped for high heat and humidity, but I can't imagine trying to deal with them without AC.
Not sure about france humidity wise but a bit further north in the south of England at the moment it's around 70%/80% and between 34C/95F and 38C/100F. It's unpleasant.
Hate to say this, but that temperature/humidity range isn't just unpleasant, it's unsafe for humans. Not "just" elderly people, but children, people who have to work outdoors for any length of time, people with illnesses...
We're not quite in "Ministry for the Future" situations of people being parboiled to death, but there's no reason to continue tolerating where we are now.
That number immediately seemed generous to me. I don't remember the temperature or humidity that day, but I distinctly remember going to the library with my grandmother in high school. We parked fairly close to the entrance, so a very short walk we'd made dozens, if not hundreds of times.
By the time we got inside, I was completely winded and we needed to pause to just catch our breaths. Just from a short walk. And while I can't remember the exact temperature, I knew it wasn't as extreme as other days that summer where I'd been able to walk just fine. The difference was the high humidity: the combination with the heat made it nearly impossible to breathe.
That's the day where it clicked for me just how dangerous high humidity is. Ever since I've always said I'd prefer 100 F and dry heat over 80 and humid, because at least in dry heat I'm not struggling to just breathe.
A related anecdote: the one time I actually felt like anti-maskers could have a point with that "I can't breathe" line was when we went to New York City in a heat wave in 2021. Temperatures in the 90s, and high humidity, made being outside hellish. I'm pretty sure the reason this one drug store was so crowded was just because people needed out of the heat. We hailed a taxi one day because the subway system was too hot and miserable. At one point my mom and I bought cheap folding fans from a tourist-trap shop to fan ourselves, and it actually helped.
The humid heat made breathing hard enough normally, and the masks made it all worse because it was trapping our breaths against our faces. In retrospect, we might be lucky the pandemic didn't start in a heatwave because I think a lot more people would have eschewed masks because they'd genuinely struggle to breathe with them.
Yeah that's rough. How common is it for houses to have AC in that part of England?
Not British, but from my understanding, it’s uncommon. Also made worse by the fact that a lot of houses are masonry or stone that are intended to retain heat, which becomes a problems when things don’t cool off in the evening.
Yep. Plus you're trying to cool down the house with fans alone on nights that aren't dropping down too much. People seem to be resorting foil over the windows to try and reduce the speed the house heats up.
Perhaps it's time for awnings to make a comeback?
When I saw it was a YouTube link about awnings, I really should have guessed it was from that channel, of course that would be the place to find an incredibly deep dive into something so mundane
Maybe I’m dumb but this is the argument I’ve never understood. Insulation works both ways, right? We insulate our houses here in Texas even though it’s for the heat.
There's a few different mechanisms for how a house is kept warm. Modern blown or sheet insulation prevents heating within the house from leaking out in the winter and heat from coming in in the summer, but it depends on active heating/cooling to maintain the differential.
A stone/masonry house is in part a massive heat battery that's slow to change temperature. As such, it can handle hot days and cool nights because the overall temperature swing up during the day is balanced out by cooler nights. Think of a stone house as much like a cave; it helps sustain the inside at the local average temperature. When that average temperature rises too high, it's also very hard to bring that down because you're trying to cool not just the interior air but also all of the thermal mass of the stone/brick.
That makes sense. It's essentially like a capacitor so it "tries" to resist the change in temperature, so if the days get too hot for too long, it doesn't have time to passively cool down enough over night.
Masonry is not insulation. Insulation uses material that doesn't conduct heat easily (which, in effect, is usually material that traps air — like foam and double-glazed windows — because stagnant air is particularly resistant to conducting heat), whereas stone/bricks/concrete conduct heat very readily. This is why they feel cooler to the touch than, say, wood; they're conducting your body heat away faster than wood can.
I've never been in a house with ac anywhere in the UK. Quite a few offices do but I'm not sure many schools do.
There's AC in some shops and restaurants, plus driving somewhere is cool enough. As always when dealing with heat, lots of shade and water will get you through the day and a lot of sitting around moving slowly. The humidity today was mild, averaging at about 40-45%. I fear going back to the Netherlands where the humidity is a lot higher by default and the temps are looking similarly inhospitable.
We had a big heat event a few years ago where temps hit an all time record for us. Usually people drive kind of fast in this city but everybody was driving super slow enjoying their car AC before they got home to no AC. Probably went from 60kph average speed to 40kph.
What you’re describing matches what I would expect for late Summer in Melbourne, Australia. You know, that country that’s like 80% uninhabitable desert? Where we’ve expected those kinds of temperatures such that it’s literally illegal to rent out a house without air conditioning? Where we’ve had decades and decades of experience with that kind of weather and still struggle with those temperatures?
And it’s only June? In Melbourne I would be genuinely startled to have those kinds of temperatures in December or fairly surprised in January, and maybe start to expect maybe a week of that kind of heat in February, once the land has had a whole two months of summer to bake and hold onto heat before it can finally reach those kinds of temperatures.
July heatwave in Athens, Greece is like that. We also work if not on vacation. It sucks
It’s only going to get hotter. The only short term solution compatible with life is getting AC. As a bonus, most modern units can also act as heat pumps in the winter, since the usual refrain I hear is “why would I get an AC unit for a few months in the summer?” - it’s also more efficient heating in the winter.
This is what deeply frustrated me when living in Germany. Germans would be very resistant to adding AC and whinging about legislation to require heat pumps in new builds (and eventually getting it repealed), but then whenever AC came up would insist that it's inefficient and bad for the environment, which simply isn't true of modern heat pump-based systems when you factor in the more efficient heating in winters. It's utterly faux environmentalism to disguise a conservative resistance to changing or updating anything, and thousands of vulnerable people will die heat-related deaths as a result. Germany actually has more deaths caused by extreme heat per year than the US does, despite having a much smaller population.
Needless to say, despite not having much control over when I moved from Germany back to the US, I'm happy to have done so prior to the current heat wave. It's been bad previous summers but the temperatures I'm hearing about now are freaking dangerous.
I did exactly this - bought a portable AC unit that utilises a heat pump and has both heating and cooling functions. Costs much less to run than expected, and me and the dog are relaxing at a comfortable 19°c, whilst its touching 32°c outside.
As an aside, people gave me strange looks for putting solar panels and a battery in the house as one of the first major renovations i did when i moved into my current place nearly 3 years ago. Now i can run an AC without feeling the effects of it on my utility bills during these "freak and infrequent" UK heatwaves.
Why use a heat pump when you can burn all natural oil?
No! We need to find a way to cool our houses by burning fossil fuel!
Maybe it wasn't clear, but that's what I was referring to.
From my personal experience there have been record summers and winters for a while now. I have to say I am ecstatic about the predicted 38° temperatures.
We have known about climate change for half a century now.
And yet nearly nothing. This is a steady saturation of sinks, elimination of tolerances and starting a slow slide, like an avalanche. Once the climate change is majorly negatively felt by large amoint of normal people it will be late enough that even drastic action will not avoid massive consequences.
Best time to something about climate change was about a century ago but the half of a century would have also been fantastic.
...So, the article and headline have been updated to say 40 people have drowned.
And the Louvre and Eiffel Tower are closing early due to the heat.
My mom also reported hearing about one train in the UK stopping mid-route because the engineer just reached their limit. Don't know how true that one is, but London's trains are largely shutting down or delaying service due to the heatwave.
To everyone in Europe, please be safe and try to stay somewhere cool!
I just moved into a new appartment in France that is “well insulated” according to the owner.
It’s 42 outside during the day, 30 at night. We could t even stay in our apartment yesterday so we had to waste the whole day just sitting in the (air conditioned) mall. We closed all (outside) blinds and windows. When we came back after 9pm, inside temperature was 40 degrees. And there is nothing we can do: there are no laws that set maximum allowed heat in residential buildings, owners solution is “go buy an AC”, everywhere is sold out and they only sell the mobile ones with a single pipe anyway (which heat as much as they cool), and we’re SoL. Didn’t sleep until 3 am when the inside temperature dropped below 35.
It’s a nightmare. It’s the third day of summer and the second heatwave already.
Unfortunately France is very anti-AC especially in the cities. If you want to install a permanent unit you have to jump through so many administrative hoops it's basically impossible. We own our place and have been trying to figure this out for years. Basically to get approval you need permission from the copropriété (equivalent to an Home Owners Association), then ask the Mairie for permission which involves filling in a bunch of stupidly long forms (I'm talking 40 pages +) only to be told no because it ruins the external aesthetics of the building. The only viable alternative is connecting to something like cold water network if it exists in the city (like Fraîcheur de Paris) but it also involves a positive vote from the majority of other home owners in the building to spend several thousands to install the system in the building (good luck with that). It can't be done at the individual scale.
Assuming you're in Paris or equivalent, it's quite possible your landlord can't do much other than provide a mobile unit, or illegally install an air conditioning unit (and very likely get caught when the neighbours rat him out).
We ended up buying a split mobile unit like this one which is bulky and expensive but it's saved our sanity. Since it's not a permanent installation it's allowed by the city. It still requires leaving the window ajar to let the hose pass, but it's miles better than the regular mobile unit. We thought it was overkill when we got it 3 years ago, but boy did we make the right decision back then. We're still looking for a more permanent solution as I expect this is only going to get worse over time.
I think ultimately they'll need to relax rules around air-conditioning or a lot more people are going to die.
Not in Paris thankfully but in a city that gets heatwaves. I can’t use a mobile split like yours because I’m not on the ground floor so there is nowhere to put the outside exchanger. It does look like a much more efficient solution that the ridiculous mobile units with a single pipe that are available anywhere (well except right now)
In cities in Asia the outside units are usually wall-mounted. Are there issues with mounting one there?
Yes. First of all if you’re renting you can forget about it, the owner won’t want to pay for it. But also, you need a permit and that’s an ordeal. And then you have to get it cleaned professionally every year if you want to follow the law, you can’t do it yourself.
I don't know if it's an honest and useful tip, but you could probably find all sort of "temporary" installations rendering the external aesthetic arguments absurd.
In a lot of historic French cities or towns, any permanent change to the external aspect of the building above a certain size needs approval from urban planning (in addition to the copropriété), including installing a small vent or drilling a hole bigger than a tennis ball. They even decide what colour your guardrails are allowed to be at city-wide scale.
Whatever way you try to circumvent the rules, all it takes is one disgruntled neighbour (and there's always at least one) to complain and the mairie will will force you put everything back exactly as it was. That's assuming the copropriété doesn't take you to court first. You can try to hide a permanent fixture behind something "temporary" but someone is bound to catch it at some point.
I get it to an extent. Cities like Paris and Bordeaux are very protective of their historic buildings (which also make up a lot of residential buildings) inside the cities. Slapping a bunch of air conditioning units on them will ruin the aesthetics. But when people start dropping like flies I don't think there will be much choice (unless the cold water system becomes a lot cheaper and easier to install).
This makes me wonder if there could be a market for "aesthetically pleasing" AC units that fit historic building exteriors without being an eyesore...
Whoever figures that out will make a tonne of money, assuming it's approved by the powers that be.
There are all kinds of "temporary" fixes that have been in place for decades.
It sounds like your apartment is well insulated. Insulation works great when you're artificially heating and cooling your home, but if it's hot outside and you don't have A/C, insulation is stifling — usually worse than being outdoors.
Historically, homes in hot climates made uses of cross breezes (using strategically placed windows, doors, courtyards, and covered walkways) to passively cool buildings in the summer.
If it's possible, I recommend trying to replicate this in your apartment using windows/doors — and fans if you have them. What you want to do is draw in cooler outdoor air (generally located lower to the ground and in shade) and push out hotter indoor air (generally located near the ceiling and in upper storeys). Remember that hot air rises, so you want to let it out and provide a way for cooler air to come in to replace it.
30°C at night sounds like a nightmare compared to the 42 during the day. When I used to live in the south, the main thing that helped during heatwave was the low night temperature, which allowed us to cool down the house and keep things tolerable during the day. At 30, that's hardly possible.
They're way less efficient but they do still cool fairly effectively in my experience. Just put it in your bedroom and only cool that one room.
That’s what I’ll end up doing. I’d really like a two pipe monobloc unit but right now you’re lucky to find any AC or fan at all everywhere is sold out, so…
Buy the one-pipe now, buy a two-pipe when they are back in stock, then sell the one-pipe during the next heat wave.
The thing is they don’t sell the two pipes at all. Because they cost more and the energy labels are so poorly designed that they look like they have the same energy cost as the single pipe. So nobody wants to pay more because they don’t see the point, and so they don’t sell, and so no store stocks them.
Who doesn’t sell them? Surely there’s a store somewhere in Europe that would sell them.
Well, let me know if you find one.
I had one from Inventum which I think is a relabeled Midea one.
We currently have a Midea portasplit which actually does have a physical outdoor unit but fixed plumbing. Meaning you don't need to have it installed by someone, though if you rent some landlords will not like the outdoor unit even though it is easily removable.
Anyway, currently all stock will be sold out anyway. That's how it always works around heatwaves.
I'm hearing lots of "we need more AC", but i'm smack in the middle of the hotspot, in a city, and i find it very managable with a fan and lots of cold drinks.
(Btw, not saying it's not hotter than it used to be, it absolutely is)
AC would be more comfortable? sure,
Necessary? No, not yet anyway.
Now obviously how your home manages heat is important (my home is below average for this), with some horrible saunas out there, but AC is the worse solution for those. Those shouldn't exist, or be renovated, and AC making it viable is stoping us from realising we should build them better!
AC is the easy, one size fits all, but unthoughtfull solution which we therefor gravitate toward instead of changing anything important to how we do things.
Now many AC are reversible, so I guess if thats what it take to get everyone to install heatpumps, why not. It does sound too good to be true so I'm cautious here, plenty of greenwashing these days (i've even heard recently the argument that electric bike are better than regular bike because electricity is more efficient than metabolising food... Which is technically true, but so so dumb...)
I'd say the necessity depends on a mixture of local humidity, the building's construction, the surrounding area, and your personal tolerance for heat. If you're in a top-floor apartment with no surrounding trees or architecture to block out direct sunlight, and a building that just traps heat? A fan and cold drinks may not be enough. And not everyone has the option or means to tear down a house not built for heatwaves and build something better.
One fun anecdote that comes to mind is how when my mom was a college student in the 70's, her campus got a new dorm building that had rooms with AC. Students with asthma got priority because heat was an actual health concern for them, and they became very popular on hot days.
well yes, but people keep hiding behind the poor and old to justify loosening regulation, even though the vast majority of people installing an AC are neither poor nor old...
The poor tend to rent rather than own. Insulating the home is payed for by the landlord. The electric bill for the AC is paid for by the tenant. How is loosening regulation against AC better for the poor than mandating renovation of steamer-home?
You don't have to be poor to be unable to afford demolition and reconstruction, or major renovation projects to make a house more suitable for extreme heat. I don't know what house ownership is like in Europe, but here in the US there are plenty of homeowners who are comfortably middle-class but still can't afford large-scale projects without saving up for years. We also have many homeowners who are poor, to the point we have the term "house poor" to describe people whose houses consume the majority of their income.
For many people, it's more feasible to make adjustments and smaller renovations as the funds and opportunity arise. And even then, those sorts of projects take a LOT of time to do right, time that can have you totally displaced from your house. Installing AC is one of those things that may be the best option because it's the one they can afford at the time without having to move to a hotel or other house. Again, I don't know what Europe is like, but surely home ownership isn't restricted to the uber-wealthy who can easily afford to renovate or rebuild a house at any given time.
I'll be blunt: your comments and responses are coming off as judgmental and almost snobbish towards people who have or want AC. I want to re-emphasize, everyone's situation is different. You can bear the heat just fine, but not everyone can. The conditions in your area may be more tolerable than an identical house a mile away due to factors like surrounding foliage and buildings to block out the sun, and even being in a different microclimate. The commonly suggested tricks to deal with heat without AC may not be available as options for reasons ranging from affordability, time constraints, the house's location and internal setup, and more. Even when people can do those tricks, they might not be enough on their own to make a meaningful difference.
And everyone's heat tolerance is different. Some people can't bear extreme heat for legitimate medical reasons, while others just don't handle heat well.
I get that AC isn't a magical solution and there are long-term solutions that should be prioritized. Those fixes take time and money though, and in the meantime, these heat waves are going to continue. I prefer the path that has less people potentially die from heatstroke because they don't have the means or ability to update their house, especially when there's an available option that they CAN afford.
This type of comment is genuinely useful to me to gauge how things can be perceived and eventually adapt.
That said, what are you suggesting?
I should just agree with everyone else's preference, even when my own experience contradicts it?
It's acceptable to thrust externalities on others so long as you can frame yourself as part of some struggling underclass?
Some people haven't even tried using a fan and I should just go "you know what, you're right, you've clearly tried everything, go AC"!
Good, I'm also opposed to people dying. Put ACs in retirement homes, libraries and hospitals. But regular people can tank the heat (I'm not some mutant heat survivor... If anything I'm below average). ACs are yet another tool that allow people to ignore the climate problem, i don't think it's vertuous to let those tools become mainstream.
"fighting climate change will require nothing of me, because I deserve my comfort, unlike the bad people"
The reversible heat pumps are a definite game changer, because it means you are displacing (typically fossil) boilers.
For e-bikes, the biggest benefit is that they encourage cycling for folks who might not have done so otherwise and create mode shifts. Being able to easily climb a hill and not arrive sweaty someplace is a big deal.
I have a coworker who bikes to work most days, and he jokes about how driving is cheaper and he can't afford the fuel for biking. Well, it's only kind of a joke because it's actually true that it's more expensive to eat enough to bike 2 hours a day (1 hour each way) than it is to buy the gas for the same trip by car.
Well, i did say it is technically true.
Kudos to your coworker for the dedication.
But the vast majority of people don't bike that much, when your commute is 20-30min each way, just do that instead of going to the gym... Most people living in the western world don't need to up their calories intake, and would benefit from more regular exercise.
It's actually crazy to me how everyone jumps onto AC when practically nobody owns a ceiling fan AND ACs a significant energy drain (which is just going to make climate change worse! Is this the same website where there's someone hating on environmental impacts of AI any time it's relevant???). While living in Mumbai those were absolutely amazing at keeping the area cool. Meanwhile shitty portable AC units were barely helpful.
Do you also judge people who heat their home in the winter? I could just use more blankets.
I live in a high humidity country, in an older brick house (with a renovated and well-insulated attic, though). The sun hits my kitchen dome skylight and the back facade all afternoon. You can feel the heat radiating from the walls inside. It was 31°C inside yesterday evening, I'm not sure a ceiling fan will make things more tolerable. Don't suggest cheap tips or tricks to cool my home, I know them all, and I'm already using them.
Renovating that house to make it passively heat resistant would probably cost as much as buying a new one. Installing a reversible AC is affordable (all things considered), and will also lower my dependency on fossil fuels.
I do judge people who insist they have a god given right to a 22° C home in the winter and summer instead of just using one more blanket or using a fan.
You're not sure ceiling fans will work, but you're allready using them? how does that work?
If 31°C inside in the evening is intolerable to you, maybe you don't actually know all the tips and tricks...
by all means do get a good reversible AC (as you say, it could lower your overall fossil fuel dependency) but all the "cheap tricks" will still help lower your energy bills and AC wear, they shouldn't be dismissed.
And it's perfectly acceptable for people to butt in with opinions on what you do around your home. "My home, my rules" doesn't work in an interconnected world where your actions impact others (ACs in cities are estimated to increase local outside temperature 0,5 to 2° C from all the hot air they push out).
If you have an alternative then yes, of course.
Yes, of course. Or sweaters. Or slippers. Or socks. In houses with poor insulation and no central heating we always did just that. Is this even controversial?
I just told you that I lived in Mumbai, with very high humidity and well over 30 degrees weather. Ceiling fans are fantastic and they improve AC performance if you do have one, meaning you don't have to use it as much.
In any given room, wouldn't the warmer air tend towards the top of the room, and the cooler toward the bottom. So blowing air from the top, to the bottom would tend to make the seating warmer than it would otherwise have been. Apropos of the air movement which might help, but you could get that from floor fans.
the cooling effect of airflow is much more relevant than the temperature gradient, especially for homes (which don't have very high ceilings). that's why fans have a winter mode where they spin in the opposite direction, to mix the air while doing as little perceptible wind as possible.
Floor fans work fine, but will mess up the temp gradient just as much, and are less comfortable (more localised wind, more noise). they are more flexible thought!
I would use my own solar panels to power the AC. I would need a heat pump too, to replace the gas boiler that now heats my water.
Beyond the initial sticker price, I see only environmental upsides.
Whether or not you own the panels doesn't change much, those panels would be producing elsewhere if you hadn't bought them. or you'd be selling the electricity back to the grid, replacing fossil sources, if you weren't using it on AC. and solar panels don't work at night.
I like solar panels, it's really cool that you have them, but we've got to stop using them as a "get out of jail" card for over consumption.
Only upsides if you can resist the temptation of setting a lower temperature than strictly necessary.
how many people do you see setting their AC to 30 while using a fan? I haven't seen any: once they get an AC, people set it at 24 (when they are somewhat semi-eco-conscious) and stop thinking about opening windows at night, installing awnings, migrating activities to the coolest room in the house, using a fan, buying an actually well designed home, planting greenery in front of walls.
If you take into account the full lifecycle of an AC, and the usual accompanying lowering of comfort tolerance (somewhat related to Jevons Paradox), I'm not so sure the overall environmental footprint would decrease much.
Absolute consumption is the real target, not efficiency.
I don't.
I can't.
I do.
I have to.
Wrong country.
Only helps so much.
We're at the point that "just do this" is causing people to die.
If it helps, I don't need AC for the nights. I'm considering it because I just need a single room that's at a normal temperature we can retreat to. This heat is abnormal and will only get worse, consider that when it's already 37°/99f at 60-80% humidity today, let alone next year.. or the one after.
Lowering consumption is a long term plan with long term results, I just need to not die next year because the dew point says I'm no longer compatible with life.
The solar panels are just gravy. I'm overproducing, with my panels facing directly South, and starting in 2027 I'm going to have to pay the utilities for the privilege of overproducing (long story, don't get me started, they fucked up by not strengthening our grid) so I'll be looking to store my overproduction anyway and use that at night. Perhaps an AC or at least a heat pump running at night can use the juice I made during the day.
Thank you.
It was still 30° inside and outside yesterday at midnight, I just want to sleep at night and not suffer, without being judged because I didn't bother to check if a ceiling fan pushing hot air down from my ceiling would somehow magically cool down my home.
Hey, I have the same temp you do.
You really owe it to yourself to try a strong fan, they actually are almost magical... (similar to how a hair dryer can feel cold on a wet head even when blasting very hot air).
empathy doesn't mean immunity from criticism , I agree with you that it's very hot right now, and getting an AC to make it an "other people's problem" is tempting.
Is the concern around air conditioning contributing climate change related to the energy use or something else? Because if we're talking about the former and specifically for France, I don't think that's a fair assessment. A lot of the energy comes from nuclear and renewables, especially during summer. Here's today's energy mix for example. If anything, installing heat pumps would be beneficial given that a lot of houses are still heated with gas in winter.
ACs pacify the masses and lowers the urgency of climate action. Funny, barely relevant comic
Also, an AC makes some home design choice acceptable (floor to ceiling windows, ignoring sun orientation, bad natural ventilation) which then get used as a justification to use AC.
Rereading my post, I did mention consumption which is a mistake on my part, as i agree it's not a very strong argument. Even decarbonated energy has an environmental cost, but ACs in a single room are well worth the cost for the comfort provided... A small AC's energy consumption over the summer is only x2-x4 times more than heavy AI use.
That's royally fucked up! do you truly not want to talk about it or may I ask for more?
Could you cover up the panel to produce less?
Mostly because I get riled up since it's so monumentally stupid. Cato the Elder said in like 150bc "Thieves of private property pass their lives in chains; thieves of public property in riches and luxury." And not to make this into a class warfare post, it's still the same today.
I'm out in the boonies so I don't really have the internet speeds to go and hunt for sources (googling that Cato quote took me multiple minutes), so while it's probably broadly correct, I may miss some nuance or caveat.
More than a decade ago, our government subsidized installing private solar panels through a method that allowed people to offset their use with their generated power 1:1 with the utility companies (salderen) and having them pay the difference in extra production. This was heavily incentivized by the government, broadly encouraged by the utility companies that came with all sorts of package deals to lure the new power sources into their fold, and all sorts of initiatives were launched to get people onto solar panels with heat pumps.
Over time it became apparent we had a grid that wasn't capable of handling such high load during the day when all this solar flooded the grid. This wasn't a problem yet but it would become one in the future. No biggie, we see this coming a mile away so let's future proof the grid.
Utility co's received grants and oodles of public cash for the express purpose of strengthening the grid.
Eventually we started reaching capacity, all the while the utilities started lobbying to repeal the (by now very popular) subsidy and remove the ability for people to "salderen". To give them a little credit, yes this hurt their bottom line so it made sense to start and reduce the amount people could strike from their power bill.
This is taking too long in their eyes so they introduced fees on all new contracts called "return power generation" which penalizes someone for generating more power than they use by instating a flat "X price per KwH over cap", overnight creating a new revenue stream all while decrying people and pleading them to stop generating so much power because it hurts them so much and the grid isn't ready for it.
Starting in 2027, the saldering will end. People that have installed panels will now see an increase in their bill from one end (no longer able to strike 1:1), which is fine, but utility co's also no longer have to pay the difference on additional generated power. However, they will keep their fee intact because "the grid is at capacity". Yeah, they never used those billions to beef up the grid. They just pocketed the money.
So here's the rundown:
All in all, they get to rake in the cash and ransack the public utilities on three different occasions through the power generation and investment of the individual.
No I can't cover up individual panels as I didn't install individual inverters. Covering up one will disable all power generation. My mistake I guess. Some people can. Others are now installing methods to flip the breaker as soon as they hit their allotted amount. People are buying batteries too (with fiendish merchants trying to upsell you overpriced batteries).
Whatever the case, everyone was told to do their best to get our country to green energy only to be royally fucked by the utility co's and a limp wristed government.
I bought my solar panels because I wanted to invest in a better future, not to make money. I overspecced a little to cover my daily use and it's now going to cost me dearly.
I share a house with some folks, and one of those people physiologically cannot handle temps over ~30 without active cooling methods (lack of sweat glands). There's not much to be done for her, but none of what you say is wrong for the 90% of people whose bodies can adapt. The past few years, I've taken to spending 4+ hours outdoors in the heatwaves, a couple before and after midday, and a couple in the evening, and just that exposure has made things so much easier.