Hope this helps someone struggling to survive the heat
I’ll have to get one at some point. It just seems a lot for the one week a year it’s needed.
Pretty spent this heatwave with a damp cloth wrapped around an ice pack and stuffed under my plums. Working from home is no fun when it’s 35C in your room. I even stole the cat’s cooling mat at one point (she hated it anyway) to use as a pillow.
Americans when they find one single thing to be smug against Europeans for, in spite of having no fucking clue why:
I have a portable AC for the main part of my house and a window unit in my bedroom. Where I live in the US it is literally a necessity. People without AC can get heat stroke and die in their own homes here in the hotter parts of the summer
I installed both AC and solar panels when heat got too dangerous for my kids.
Yes, many everyday problems can be solved with money, money were literally invented for that exact purpose. Other problems can be solved with time, for example - trees need a fuckton of time to grow, but I still replaced most of the grass in my garden with trees and bushes. I will most likely never rest under their shade in my life, but is that really important to see the benefits fast?
A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.
There’s a ton of variants of this, and saying (in a form or another) apparently goes back to 1700s.
Mark Twain, actually.
That particular quote is from D. Elton Trueblood. Mark Twain said “The best time to plant a tree was 25 years ago. The second best time is now.”. A bit different twist, but the same idea.
There’s also (alledeg) Indian proverb: “Blessed is he who plants trees under whose shade he will never sit.”. And many other variations of the same over the last 300 years or so.
Hmmm wasn’t there also chinese proverb that said “plan for a year? - rice, plan for ten years? - orchard, plan for 100 years? - education”
The new climate denial? Using wealth to insulate yourself from discomfort and change
Converting electricity into heat via silicon (ironically data centers turn electricity into heat with incredible efficiency) then moving that heat outside with HVAC units (heat exchangers again, the best way to move heat outside).
Then this sunufabich buys an ac
Alexa! Please set the room temperature to 72F… Would you like that in degrees centigrade?
Sorry, I can’t hear you! I’m making too much cooling noise!
Alexa, it’s too hot!.. I stopped cooling so I could hear you better! Totally not to send that data to Google for precessing.
Alexa… Google…
Unfortunately I bought a portable unit for my room. My reasoning, rooms gets to 38c and sleepless nights could mean sleeping through alarms, future health concerns and also, this heat won’t be going down any time soon.
Portable units are serviceable. Not nearly as good as split airco units but you can make them better by adding a second hose.
The air inlet for cooling the compressor needs to draw air in from outside instead of from the room the unit is in.
Portable units are absolute shit. For a little more you can buy a split like the OP’s picture, that is an Air source heat pump, which is 3 to 4 times more economical to run than any other heat source. Plus they can run off solar panels, if the roof is yours.
Thing is if you’re renting you don’t really have the freedom to install those units. And since AC is only really needed a few days per year it’s good enough.
I’d also much rather get the one from the OP but my options are limited.
wow a shocking amount of people here have no idea how AC works
What are you referring to the image? I assume it is piped out the wall to the other portion of the heat pump?
no, here as in the posters.
ac units produce co2 and require the window to be open… and such
Produce Co2_ as in the electricity used? And windows open?
It makes the air cold. What’s there to understand?
It makes the room cold unfortunately to make the room cold you have to whack a sodding great hole in your wall. You explain that to the landlord who doesn’t care about your comfort, but they could care immensely about the wall having a hold on it.
It makes the air cold. What’s there to understand?
With that logic, leaving your refrigerator door open should cool the room. But doing so would actually heat it up.
whack a sodding great hole
Ours have a hole about 50mm in diameter. It’s not going to bring your wall down and if you decide that you don’t need the efficient heating/cooling with minisplit-unit it’s easy enough to patch. I own the house, so I didn’t need to think nothing else than the location of the hole, but any sensible landlord would see a minisplit-unit as an increase of property value.
A sensible landlord would recognise that yes but only if they got to keep the air conditioning system. Realistically though the tenant would probably want to take it with them when they left after all they bought it. And the landlord might not want the owners to be on them to buy it off the tenant when the tenant leaves.
Do y’all not have windows?
Not the type you’re thinking of. We have windows that open like doors rather than the American style guillotine things, which have always struck me as inherently unsafe, but I suppose it does have that one benefit.
Let me fix that for you. A shocking number of Europeans have no idea how AC works.
The northern half, basically. Down south we very well do. What a lot of people are unaware of is that an air source split costs peanuts, and lowers your heating bills like 300-400%. Yeah not 30, 300%
300% reduction would mean you no longer pay for heating and instead get paid twice as much as you used to pay
Don’t bring maths and shit here!
What I actually meant to write was 300 % more efficient, 1/3 the cost.
But yeah, it’s bad etiquette to correct strangers, especially when you are right.
Hey one of you finally realize that air conditioning is necessary to sleep at night when it gets really hot, a problem which is only going to continue to grow worse thanks to climate change. At least until the ocean conveyor breaks completely and y’all start freezing your balls off like you live in Siberia.
Maybe invest in a reversible heat pump so you’re ready!
I wish; I rent, so it’s whatever they’ve given me - specifically a window unit currently.
Beware that those things do not bring fresh air in, so if you close windows shut the Co2 levels would rise rather quickly and elevated co2 levels are linked to decreased cognitive abilities. I’d suggest running them with windows open if you can afford it.
If that’s how your home was designed to be that tight, it was poorly designed.
Back in the 1980s or 90s, architects and engineers tried to design and build buildings as tight and efficient as possible. They quickly discovered that such buildings made people sick. They now design buildings to exchange a proscribed amount of air every hour to prevent what you are describing from happening.
So, if your home is properly designed and built, then it’s going to “leak” enough air per hour to keep the air heathy for habitation.
Your house isn’t that air tight rofl.
Even if it was, your lungs aren’t that really efficient either.
what?
Efficiency?
I guess the raw materials that you put into your lungs come out mostly unchanged. When compared to say a fire I guess. Did that help?
I don’t see what it has to do with anything. I guess you’re implying that by merit of lungs being less efficient the composition of air doesn’t matter as much, but it very much does, you dont want any toxic gases nor components being too high or too low, just like you wouldn’t want piss in your gas tank regardless if it’s a new or old car.
Buildup of co2 in a home comes from the people living in it. That blower unit is literally just moving the air around. It doesn’t add or take away anything but heat energy.
I’m not claiming that AC units emit Co2 (other than at power plants).The problem is with closing windows and doors. I guess people see thing on the wall blowing cold air and assume it’s coming from outside, which it is not, and skip on airing the room they’re in, which, while not immediately hazardous, has detrimental health effects.
Oh yeah? Then what do you do in the winter? Your heater doesn’t bring in fresh air either. Do you keep the windows open and let all your heat out?
Also what other air conditioners are you comparing against? Because window units also keep the air compressor outside the window with a barrier between the inside part, which takes in air from the room.
All HVAC systems recirculate the inside air, without bringing in fresh air. So please elaborate on which cooling method you would use during these 30°C/100°F days we have to stay cool?
All HVAC systems recirculate the inside air, without bringing in fresh air.
You’re wrong on that one. Ducted air conditioning systems do bring fresh air in, as well as positive inflow and heat recovery ventilation systems.
I don’t understand your statement. I can have the windows closed all day with no AC and not worry about rising co2 levels. Why would it be different with this device running and circulating air? It’s not like it emits co2.
This looks like a wall mounted monoblock so you would be right but if it’s a split device with an outside unit, it does actually bring in fresh air. Either way, I’m pretty sure running an AC with the windows open is never good advice even if you can afford it.
The only point of concern would be if you have a gas heater for water etc. in your apartment and run a monoblock AC with just one exhaust hose blowing hot air outside while sucking in new air from the inside. In that case, the negative pressure created by the AC can potentially pull gas that would usually go out the chimney into your apartment.
I can have the windows closed all day with no AC and not worry about rising co2 levels
That’s the thing about co2, you don’t really notice it unless at extreme levels, but it definitely affects you, at pretty much all levels.
split device with an outside unit, it does actually bring in fresh air
That’s the common misconception. The lines running between minisplit units are for refrigirant, not air. It’s essentially a fridge without a box, with the room where theyre mounted becoming the box instead.
Why would it be different with this device running and circulating air? It’s not like it emits co2.
It doesn’t. It’s just that people who run AC’s usually shut everything closed and then exhale all that co2, which in an ordinary room with just 1 person in takes <1hr to reach noticeable impairment levels. AC or not, ventilation is important.
The only point of concern would be if you have a gas heater for water etc
You’re probably thinking about carbon monooxide, not carbon dioxide?
That’s the common misconception. The lines running between minisplit units are for refrigirant, not air. It’s essentially a fridge without a box, with the room where theyre mounted becoming the box instead.
You’re right I was wrong about that, sorry lol.
It doesn’t. It’s just that people who run AC’s usually shut everything closed and then exhale all that co2, which in an ordinary room with just 1 person in takes <1hr to reach noticeable impairment levels. AC or not, ventilation is important.
You might be right but I am certainly not opening my windows once an hour during winter, if that’s the standard then we’re all screwed by the time we go to bed with the windows closed. I don’t think this problem is significant enough to justify running an Air Conditioner with the windows open…
You’re probably thinking about carbon monooxide, not carbon dioxide?
Yes, I am. As that is the only “real” concern I see with AC’s and gas buildup. As I said co2 is just not a big enough issue to justify not getting an AC or letting it run out the window. Regularly airing out should be common sense, but I think once or twice a day is regular enough for the average apartment
CO2 always builds up in the room with no airflow, and when jt gets above 1000 PPM it starts causing fatigue.
And how exactly does an AC intensify this issue? Because lets be real it’s not really a problem people usually face in their daily lives. Some people leave their windows closed for days during the winter (Which is also bad because of mold etc. but thats another story). Most places are not nearly well insulated enough for it to be a problem
It doesn’t. They said “if you close the windows”, although leaving the doors open and opening one window slightly will get CO2 down significantly.
one window slightl
Bad solution. Like in winter, open the windows fully and exchange all the air when needed. A slightly open window is very inefficient.
There’s ductless mini split units that bring in fresh air?
Comment deleted because it was a load of nonsense
Comment deleted because it was a load of nonsense
LOL! I was just about to “well, akshually” you about minisplit design!
I’d suggest running them with windows open if you can afford it.
With that attitude you can also justify private jets. It’s obscene to intensify global warming unnecessarily by wasting energy like this to escape global warming.
Surely that emits a lot of bad stuff into the atmosphere especially during a heatwave? Can’t be very good for the environment!
Lol
It works similar to a fridge with the inside of the fridge being your apartment and the outside being, well, the outside. All it does is circulate air over a heat sink filled with a refrigerant, which never leaves the system; it does not emit anything.
The fact that the power it uses comes from burning fossil fuels instead of green energy is really not the consumers fault and is part of the reason why the demand for these devices is skyrocketing in the first place (It’s getting hotter because of the climate change)
Well it pumps hot air into the outside world. Thus causing more heat and stuff. A fridge keeps it inside the house. And people who have ACs usually have more Acs then fridges.
Your phrasing of “a lot of bad stuff” sounded like you were saying that AC puts out chemicals or something.
No, but many air conditioners make racist social media posts, aggressively catcall female passerby, and support child marriage.
Sure, but the inside and the outside of your house aren’t different universes, the heat that your fridge emits still gets out into the world. Dense urban areas with widespread AC units can indeed be slightly hotter than if there were no AC’s. We’re talking 1-2°C. That shouldn’t be a big issue for the local environment. And that heat is not what’s causing climate change. Climate change is caused by greenhouse gasses, not by heat-emitting electrical devices
Eh, technically both contribute. Heat from electrical devices still gets dumped into the environment, and a good portion of that electricity is produced with greenhouse gasses (coal or oil-fired power plants).
Generally, though, yeah, the heat from running AC (or, say, a desk fan) is miniscule compared to other factors.
The heat from electrical devices are basically negligible compared to what the sun beams into the planet, otherwise solar panels would be physics defying.
The problem has always been greenhouse gases causing the sun heat to escape slower than we collect them.
I mean the electricity which powers it does. The unit itself does not, unless it was installed with a leak, in which case it won’t work for very long.
I have just one thing to say: 🖕
So you volunteer to fund one for me and convince my landlord and the mayor to allows its installation ?
Don’t forget you need the compressor installed outside too!
So? If you want a fireplace you need a chimney.
Everyone knows what a fireplace is.
What is that?
Its called a heat pump or mini split. Really well made system for air conditioning.
Becoming more common in the states. Rest of the developed world already uses them.
Central air conditioning, but designed better. It’s services individual rooms instead of taking the temperature of the entire house from one location and then distributing based on that.
I consider these superior to central air due to its ability for zone control.
That’s not what central air conditioning means. Central air conditioning has forced air ducts and a single chiller unit. This is called a mini-split or split unit system.
It is in fact literally the opposite of central, aka decentral
Got you, a fancy cold-blowy box :)
I think I’ve seen one of those once in an office somewhere - though I feel like that one blew out warm air instead/as well (I may be mistaken).
Fun fact about air conditioning units. They are basically a glorified heat pump. And many of the newer units that are being produced can pump heat into the house as well as pumping it out of the house.
That’s not just a fun fact - it’s a useful fact :)
They make my 2 fav things: air conditioners and the lancer evo final
Evo VI TME needs a word.
Source: I am old.
Oh that one can have a word with me anytime! Honestly id be happy with any Lancer
Any lancer or any evo specifically?
Because the standard lancer is pretty boring
My dream car (that i could most realistically get) is the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Final Edition 2016. I love Mitsubishi’s transmission and there’s just something about how the Lancer Evo Final looks. I love rally and ideally i’d love the Mitsubishi Lancer WRC (or anything from the Group B Rally era lol)
