Keeping Cool
While not being an absolute necessity, we do like to have a way of cooling our homes and workplaces during the hot temperatures of the summer season and keeping cool.
For most people, that means an air conditioning system of a size and capacity to render a comfortable temperature, although often the high energy consumption and resulting utility bills puts a lot of people off the idea of running their system at full pelt 24/7.
But what is the impact of our need for comfort on the planet that provides us with a home, air to breathe, food and water to consume and all the other miracles we take for granted?
Energy Hog
Environmentally and ecologically, air conditioning is an absolute disaster. Even an average house sized installation can consume several kilowatts of electricity per hour which puts an enormous load on energy stations.
These stations in turn burn huge amounts of "fossil" fuels (coal, natural gas, oil) to generate electricity for the grid with high levels of air, water and soil pollutants released as a result.
Of the power stations are not using "fossil" fuels, nuclear reactors are at their heart which produce the dirtiest and most toxic pollutant of all.
Radioactive waste.
A small percentage of new power stations are coming online that use renewable sources of energy such as solar photovoltaic, wind or hydro and these produce far less and in some cases zero pollutants. These are highly desirable alternatives to traditional energy sources, but their uptake is painfully slow as big business continues to do its best to stand in the way of that route of progress.
It is a huge shame that we have the technology, know-how and resources to produce 100% of our electricity needs from renewable sources to run our homes and offices, factories and laboratories, farms and stores. Yet governments and big business drag their heels spouting so many lame excuses it becomes almost pitiful.
At the same time, we could all be enjoying a cleaner world and a safer environment for our children to grow up in if only the old dinosaurs that run our lives would open their eyes and see what everyone else can see so plainly.
Cooling
However hard those of us with the eyes to see, the minds to understand and the courage to speak out try, we know that progress in this area will continue to move slowly but surely. As business-people begin to see how they can profit from developing renewable energy sources, so the wheels will turn faster.
However, the subject of this area of the website is the ways and means of creating a cooler, more agreeable indoor climate during hot weather. Those means and ways available to us take the form of air conditioners, evaporative coolers, regular fans and external factors such as shading, insulation and heat reflection.
Each method has its own merits and downsides in terms of environmental soundness, economy and convenience and we'll be discussing each of these as we go along. There is certainly room for spreading the knowledge and understanding around to a wider audience however that can be achieved.
Published Titles
To expand on the various options that are available to homeowners and businesses, we have provided some related, topic-focused articles to support and enlighten. You'll find the clickable titles to each article listed below: