Has the bum economy forced you to ditch your A/C?
By Jason Buckland, Sympatico / MSN Finance
Living a summer in Canada without air conditioning brings two things to mind.
One, of course, is the unwelcome Dick Vitale sweat you get going after a shower, yet the other is a kinder revelation that pops up in your bank account every 60 days or so.
Keeping the A/C off or low in the warmer months surely keeps the hydro bill down, as we all know. But, quite honestly, it’s likely the people without the option of climate control in the first place making the move to open windows and oscillating fans.
So it brings forth the question as Canada trudges through its first summer of the recession: has an economy that encourages penny-pinching forced you to ditch A/C, where you would normally use it, for the savings in hydro?
The answer appears to be a resounding “yes” in the U.S., at least, according to the New York Times. The paper says shipments of window air conditioners were down 39% in the first half of 2009 compared with the same time period a year earlier. Central A/C unit sales are down 10% apparently, too.
Blogs have even popped up detailing home owners' plights to cave on the A/C luxury for savings, complete with suggestions on how to cope with the loss.
One writer proposes a few tricks, like using high-thread sheets (they feel cooler, I guess) on your bed and keeping a pitcher of ice water near you at all times.
Of course, these tips and stats come out of the U.S., where locales like Texas and the Arizona Sun Belt boost August temps higher than Stevie Wonder’s hairline.
Our summers here are more manageable, granted, but the savings are still undeniable.
So the matter remains. Are you giving A/C, as my cheeseball roommate would say, the cold shoulder?
Posted by: nick | Jul 31, 2021 12:08:52 AM
The climate in southern bc is the best in canada. We do get the heat in the summer but without that morbid humiaty you get from Alberta and east. I have lived in ONtario, which is too flat and cold and maratimes which is to flat and too cold. Soutern bc is the place to be. If you want decent weather
Posted by: nick | Jul 31, 2021 12:15:52 AM
Ontario, no thanks, east been there done that
Posted by: nick | Jul 31, 2021 12:21:50 AM
You know it's where ya live. Because I have lived in ONtario and maratimes and
bc, I know where it's best. Once again the humiaty in central canada,is absolutely awful,
discomforting and I never noticed it as much, before but now no way nothanks, too many
people and bad summer air and freeze your but in the winter, sorry but thta why I,m here and not there
Posted by: Philippe | Aug 1, 2021 10:18:46 AM
I take the opportunity to write about A/C technology.
An A/C machine is like a refrigerator - hot on one side and cold on the other. It is basicaly a heat pump technology pumping the heat away from the cold side to push it on the hot side.
You could turn your window type A/C machine around to heat the house and cool the exterior... that would be the traditional heat pump. The energy extracted from the exterior air (cooling it) is liberated inside the house... 1500 Watts of electricity could pump in the equivalent heat of 4000 watts of electricity in a baseboard heater.
This works well at specified external temperatures, but the efficiency drops outside the specified operating temperature... when you most need your heat-pump, when it is the coldest, its efficiency might be at its worst... so instead of extracting the heat from the exterior air which is too cold... you can extract heat from the earth 150 feet bellow your house... This is what they call geothermal energy.
A geothermal heat pump may be operated to heat or cold your house. The instalation of the system is expensive and there is some maintenance cost, but you can save electricity... You fear the cost of energy might raise but it might also fall... in the overall economy, resources have steadily lost their share of the pie... you give much more money to internet service providers than what you did 10 years ago but not to utility company... of coarse... ressources loose their share...
A window type A/C machine is noise-annoying to the neighbor... but why not do a deeper hole and share it with your neighbor...
Posted by: Veronica | Aug 3, 2021 1:14:23 AM
My A/C has been in the closet since 2007. Haven't needed it. This summer in Winnipeg has been wet, mild.
Did have a few hot/humid days but no need for AC when a ceiling fan does the trick.
Posted by: Lynn | Aug 3, 2021 5:07:48 AM
I live in Northern Alberta where it is not uncommon to get -45 C in the winter and +45 C in the summer. I bought a/c last summer, it saved my families life from the sweltering, searing heat. This summer I haven't even had to pull it out because it hasn't been necessary. You can't lose for trying to beat the heat. I have found that three floor fans also do a wonderful trick of blowing the warm air around...
Posted by: Guy Forget | Aug 3, 2021 8:07:51 AM
Use fans in the house (pretend I'm in Casablanca),and some a/c in the car,pretend I'm in the Grapes of Wrath.If the economy doesn't improve.I'll be accustomed to both.
Posted by: Martin | Aug 3, 2021 9:06:42 AM
It's all about comfort and efficiency. Ventilation with countercurrent heat exchangers in buildings minimizes need for AC and personnel will work more efficiently. When stepping into a hot car, it's easier to open all doors initially and give AC a break till cabin temp is within survival range. Often AC is more efficient than that caused by the turbulence of open windows causing wind resistance on the highway. I set AC to a high temp when absent from home on hot days to control humidity. Early moring humidity is close to 100% and after a night of open windows and without proper use of AC we incur mould and pollen related health hazards. Another approach is to seperate the cool air in rooms when using a hot kitchen and ventilate it thoroughly before resorting to free AC investment from the cooler rooms a few hours afterwards.