We should no longer allow any residential tower block to be built in this country without modern air conditioning.
The token ventilation fan they’ve been installing in flats with sealed windows was woefully insufficient 10 years ago, let alone now. Even the ones that do let you crack the window generally only do so on one side, so there’s no through draft occurring
Air conditioning is terrible for the planet and increases temperature in the local area
We need much more medium and high density housing, exclusively low density is unsustainable.
That housing needs to be habitable, part of that is keeping it between 15 & 25 degrees indoors.
Unfortunately once average temperatures exceed 25, there is no way to make this happen without moving the hot air back out of the building, via a heat pump (which is what AC is).
Energy wise, it can be powered by solar quite effectively as typically solar output scales somewhat linearly with air conditioning demand. Also, particularly in this country, a heat pump would also replace the gas or electric boiler used in winter, which with panels would be dramatically better for the environment.
The heating-the-local-area-thing only really applies in a meaningful way to industrial air conditioning where there’s a lot of equipment inside the building creating heat. In most residential situations you’re effectively just stopping new heat from coming in.
Along side this, I can’t believe that collectively we don’t heat buildings. What’s the point of 100 apartments each maintaining an inefficient little boiler rather than a single big efficient boiler for the whole building (or maybe 2 so that there’s then contingency)
collective heating strategy? that sounds socialist 🫠
Haha, guilty!
They do it on the continent (or at least I’ve seen it work in Berlin). It seems such an obvious win
And give the ability to collectively bargain on energy prices, boiler insurance, and repairs?
Not a chance! There’s too much money to be made making sure everybody is isolated and alone.
I have some buddies in a Discord server that always bring up AC whenever we say there is an unusual (the new norm) heatwave in Europe.
Get an AC they say.
OK, cool… but also contribute to the planet heating up?
I’d rather suffer the heat for a few weeks out of the entire year.
Currently 29.5C in my flat.
I keep the windows and blinds/curtains closed on the side of the flat that is currently receiving sunlight to try and limit the heating coming in. A lot of people say keep all windows and curtains closed… but at some point it is hotter inside than outside, so why not get some fresh air in on the cooler side of the building.
I’d rather have warm circulating air than warm still air.
Firstly, this is about tower blocks that cannot get adequate ventilation. Also, we get 80-90% of our country’s electricity from renewables on days like this, so with panels on the building too, it really shouldn’t cause any additional carbon to be released.
Secondly, look up “wet bulb temperature” and what that means in terms of your body’s thermal regulation. There’s a point where your body is no longer able to cool off, and this is when hyperthermia happens and then, pretty rapidly, death.
“Just suffer the heat” is increasingly dangerous advice with the trajectory we’re on, particularly with these buildings. They’re going to be the first places people start dying
Maybe we should use heat pumps instead?
I used the term interchangeably here (they are technically the same thing, heat pump essentially just means the manufacturer lets you run it in reverse)
AC and Heat Pumps are the same thing. They both operate by compressing a gas to raise its temperature, condensing it into a liquid to expel its heat, then re-expanding it (in a different location) to absorb heat.
The difference is one of nomenclature, not functionality.
We have the same problem here in Portland… Historically we haven’t had the climate to worry about it, regulations provide for minimum temps, not maximum temps.
It got so bad, we passed a law in 2022 which blocks landlords from preventing tenants from installing their own AC.
blocks landlords from preventing tenants from installing their own AC.
Parasites always doing something
For my people struggling with no AC, don’t underestimate awnings, sun sails, and street coverings. Depending on the building and conditions, an awning could lower heat gains by multiple degrees.
When I lived in London, I rented a flat that was in the loft of an old house.
There was no insulation in the sloped parts of the ceiling, only the flat middle bit had insulation.
Meaning winter was cold and summer was hot. In summer my ceiling was hot to the touch and in winter often my heating could not keep up. It would be running at full capacity and I could watch my thermostat temperature keep dropping.
I could keep my windows open all night and by morning it was still over 30 degrees inside, the heat would just never leave. I think because the wind would blow along the side of the house instead of directly at it so I got no airflow.
It still gets hot in my current flat, maybe 33 degrees but at least in winter it holds onto heat well. I can sleep with thin blankets.
Here is a photo of my thermostat at the peak I noticed.
I could keep my windows open all night and by morning it was still over 30 degrees inside, the heat would just never leave. I think because the wind would blow along the side of the house instead of directly at it so I got no airflow.
(Assuming it’s cooler outside at night) the fix here is to induce the airflow you want by opening windows on opposing ends of your home and then placing a fan indoors ~1m away from one of the open windows blowing air out of the home. Outside of a custom-built solution, this is the most effective way to draw outside air in through the opposing window.
If there is a prevailing breeze along the path of airflow, use it to your advantage. Otherwise, draw air in through an occupied space you want to cool off the most, exhaust through a less occupied space.
Currently 31° in my flat. Windows open, and I’m sat in front of the fan. It’s a first floor flat above a restaurant. It is WARM, lads.
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It’s 30C outside. I’ve recently moved into this new home and I’m surprised at how cool the lounge feels.
