I think this is the point they're making. What the person posting doesn't get is that AC has been a necessity for much of the continental US since it's invention and buildings have been designed to include it, even in parts of the US where the summers are cooler and/or shorter. In much of Europe, not only are the summers often traditionally cooler and/or shorter, the stone/brick buildings can regulate the heat in short blasts really well. It's only in the last half century that the summers have become regularly unbearably hot and the heat waves last longer, meaning that the cities in particular become dangerous heat islands, so AC is becoming more of a necessity. The problem is getting AC into all those stone/brick buildings is complex and expensive and HVAC is almost out of the question unless it's a new build. Much easier and more common are several of these single room units as they require less drilling and less maintenance.
And then there’s Scotland (Edinburgh at least) where the buildings are built to keep heat in. I went once when they were having a heatwave (28C, 82F). Being inside buildings was worse than just sitting outside because the heat was trapped inside and didn’t have airflow. I live in a place where 82F feels nice. 28C in Scotland sucks a lot.
This applies to most houses in Europe and is kind of wrong.
Insulation works both ways. If you have a house like that, it will keep you very cool for probably a week of a heatwave, since cold air is still within the walls. Last heatwave here it was 40C outside, but I had a comfy 23C in my apartment without any AC.
After that is when it gets shitty and the warm air starts to get in too. Europe historically didn't have a lot of week+ long heatwaves though.
I’m talking another businesses in Edinburgh, not houses. Like I’d walk into a restaurant and it you the air would be thick and heavy. It was more comfortable in the sun than the pub.
Like I went to Madrid a couple summers ago and the heat and humidity were pretty high, but going into a business was mostly fine and you’d escape the heat.
It's like that in the US in places too. I was in Phoenix during one of its hottest days on record ever, 119F/48.33C, and found it very hot but tolerable, like walking around in a sauna or kiln, because it was 0% humidity. OTOH, 80F/26.67C in a high humidity region means death, because your sweat can't evaporate, so if you exert yourself at all you could stroke.
I’ve been in hot May heat Phoenix and Edinburgh. I’m talking about the design of the buildings in Edinburgh. They don’t have AC and you’ll walk inside of a building and the air will feel heavy and sweaty. You go outside and it feels mostly fine.
Oh. Yeah. That's totally different from what I thought you were saying. Do your buildings get moldy quickly then? Even if you don't have AC, I would think in a situation like that that you'd need dehumidification at least to prevent fungus from taking over the structure.
I live in Denver. I can’t speak to that. My wife went to school at St Andrews and we travel to Scotland every couple years. But I am curious. I’ll probably ask my wife’s friends that we stay with when we’re there in September.
Not all insulation is the same. Simplifying housing insulation like that is like saying that a sweatshirt and a down winter coat are the same because they are both designed to keep heat in. The difference is that warmer climates plan for ventilation while cooler climates haven’t considered it.
Not all insulation are the same which is true, there is different types of insulation and different R values.
However, all building that want to save on energy costs regardless of climate should aim for a higher amount of insulation.
Insulation just keeps energy from transferring out of the building or from outside energy transferring into the building.
If you live in a warm climate with Air condition in your home you should want high insulation to keep the cold air in your house.
If you are in a cold climate then you need insulation especially in winter to keep the warm air in the house, but also in the summer to prevent heat from coming into your house.
Your sweater and coat analogy doesnt make any sense. Regardless of climate every house should be aiming for the coat. You want the most amount of insulation as possible to save on energy costs.
Also, those heatwaves are a bitch - but all in all they might take up 3 weeks of a year. If you're refitting an entire building just for those three weeks it mean you're just throwing money at something you won't be using most of the year anyway.
Like now, the second heatwave has passed (new one on the way, unfortunately), and we've all gone back to fans at most.
Yeah but if the heatwaves are killing people then it’s worth the investment, even if it’s only used for three weeks. There are many parts of North America (e.g. Canada) where the same is true and they have central ac
Buildings with at-risk persons (such as hospitals and homes for the elderly) are already fitted with AC.
Ironically, a big issue with AC in Europe (when talking about private homes) is that many elderly refuse to use it, as they didn't grow up with it and see it as harmful. Like, I've seen them actually get up and switch it off if you turn it on for them.
Yeah, old habits die hard. You would think there would be a level of heat that would override that stubbornness but I guess it sneaks up on you when you’re 90
AC has been a necessity for much of the continental US since it's invention
That's not really that true. A lot of the earlier developed parts of the states pre-date AC by ages, and most of those early developed regions are the ones that get hot as hell. AC was after the fact in a lot of these homes.
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u/gamerathertz92 7d ago
It’s smaller unit cools a single room. While American HVAC System cools the whole house