The AC culture wars may be solved by advances in environmentally friendly technology.
  • fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works
    15·
    2 days ago

    Are heat-pumps used in a lot in the EU?

    I will say I am pretty AC pilled, but if the it takes off in Europe more I hope they go the route option of last resort and do everything else first. Unfortunately in the US when was introduced it was seen as a sign of wealth to have central air AC be THE only method of cooling the home we have a ton of places not built for anything else.

    No planned shade trees, no air flow routes from outside air, no fans or ceiling fans that too decorative to be effective, no misting systems, etc

    At least more efficient windows are taking off.

    Worse yet, many apartments here has the tenets pay electric bills so the incentive to have been efficient from the landlords is next to nothing.

    • benjirenji@slrpnk.net
      4·
      23 hours ago

      Modern houses 10 to 20 years old usually have them, some owners add them later, but there’s still a lot of heating done with oil and gas… and also the heat pumps are often built for heating and not cooling. Often there are no good options for cooling even though better tech than the shitty monoblock ACs would exist.

    • RunawayFixer@lemmy.world
      3·
      1 day ago

      In southern Europe AC is common. In northern Europe floor heating with a central heatpump system seems to be the most common solution for new builds (in the part of Europe I know at least), but it was unfortunately seldom installed with cooling ability. New builds in northern Europe are very well insulated, and double glazed glass with a low solar transmission factor is common, as are built-in blinds. Proper ventilation was an issue when we first started with insulating and sealing everything up, the rules have since been made more humane, but imo still too focused on mechanical solutions.

      Every new build/renovation has to have an energy + ventilation study done and meet certain minimum standards. The result of that study is prominently featured on any immo platform, so renters know what to expect.

      But when it’s 35+ °C outside for several days in a row, those new builds without active cooling still get too hot. Our legislation simply hasn’t caught up yet. When it gets that hot, people now often make due with mobile airco units to keep a few rooms livable, which is silly for a home that’s only a few years old imo. We should have been prepared for this, we knew it was coming :)

    • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyzOP
      8·
      2 days ago

      The “good thing” is that for many cities the required but quite simple step of integrating vegetation planning into city and urban design such as trees along streets will help massively.

  • HerbGrower@slrpnk.net
    61·
    2 days ago

    Tbh I find the main issue is being hot and sweaty where ever you are contacting a bed or sofa. That could be solved with just a decent cooling pad to sit on.

    Also really hot when I get in from a bike ride. But that is going to happen most of the year regardless of AC.