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Summer comfort

Article outline

Introduction

In summer, even when the temperature outside remains pleasant, say 20 to 25°C (68-77°F), the temperature indoors rises very rapidly. This can easily be accounted for by the greenhouse effect. During the day when the sun is beating down, this causes the temperature within houses to rise, sometimes to more than the outside temperature, and the heat is conserved overnight owing to insulation, windows, etc.

One of the ways to keep cool in summer is to have air conditioning in your house. However, apart from the high cost involved (equipment that costs several hundreds of dollars, high electricity consumption of 1000 Watts or above per machine, etc.), air conditioning pollutes. The reason for this is that energy is required to manufacture the device in the first place, then to generate the electricity that it needs to run. Even with the production of energy from nuclear sources in France, producing 1 Kwh generates 50 grams of co2, as opposed to 500 in Germany, for example. Air conditioning systems that consume 1 Kw generate 18 kg of co2 over a 2 month period if turned on for 6 hours a day, that is, as much as traveling 100 km by car. Finally, the gases used in air conditioning systems are potent greenhouse gases (up to 2000 times more so than CO2) and micro leaks of such gases contribute to global warming.

So how can we keep cool in summer while polluting and spending less?

N.B: In the following, the most effective and least expensive ideas will be awarded three stars ***, average ones two stars **, and those that are "not bad" but not exactly ideal, just one star *.

Idea no. 1: Air out your home in the morning

Install a thermometer that indicates both the outside and inside temperatures, and air out your home in the morning when it is colder outside than it is indoors. Once the opposite is true (i.e. colder indoors than outside), close your windows at once and close the shutters partially, especially those of south-facing windows, so as to restrict the amount of exposure to the sun's rays and thus the rise in the indoor temperature.


Cost:*** (0 bucks)
Effectiveness:***
Ease: : ***
Pollution :***

Idea no. 2: Hang wet laundry

Hang out wet laundry in your home whenever possible - if none is available, wet a sheet. This will cool the atmosphere. Indeed, water evaporates, and in order to do so, it requires energy so as to go from a liquid to a gaseous state. The energy for this transformation comes from the heat in the surrounding air. Therefore, the temperature of the air decreases via the evaporation of water.

Here's a trick: if you find that the water does not evaporate quickly enough, create a draft of air by opening 2 doors or by positioning a fan in front of the wet sheet, so that the water from the sheet evaporates more quickly.


Cost:*** (0 bucks)
Effectiveness:***
Ease: : ***
Pollution :**

Idea no. 3: Buy a fan

Contrary to popular belief, a fan does not cool a room down, but tends to heat it up instead. The reason for this is simple: blowing air about doesn't make the air any cooler, whereas the fan consumes electricity and dissipates energy in the form of heat (Joule effect), which heats up the air (just a little). But the fan has the advantage of lowering the perceived temperature and therefore serves to "cool" the air.


Cost:**
Effectiveness:***
Ease: : ***
Pollution :*

Idea no. 4: Clever air conditioning

If you still feel too hot in spite of all of the above, use air conditioning. But insist upon air conditioners that provide the highest efficiency in terms of the cooling power to electricity consumption ratio, and that operate on a reverse-cycle, i.e. capable of heating your home and rejecting cold air outside during winter. To achieve this, you only have to choose A or A+ appliances. Although they are sometimes more expensive initially, they will pay for themselves thanks to a lower electricity consumption.

NB: Generally speaking, for every 1000 Watts consumed, an air con produces 3000 Watts worth of cool air and 3000 Watts of hot air + 1000 Watts of electricity consumption, that is, 4000 Watts of heat.

Last of all, do not use the air con unless it is really necessary, i.e. only as a last resort, say if it is more than 25 or 26°C indoors (77 to 79°F), and do not use it to attain an inside temperature of 20°C. Anyway, it is bad to experience "thermal shock" and therefore bad to have a difference of more than about 5°C between the indoor and outdoor temperatures.

NB: In France, the ADEME suggests using the air con when it is 26°C (79°F) or above, with a maximum temperature difference of 5 to 7°C between (9-13°F) the inside and the outside. Air conditioning should be perceived as a means of reducing summer heat. As it is, I know of people who have air conditioning that is intended for a floor area of 30m2. However, by airing out in the mornings, such a system is capable of maintaining the indoor temperature at 24-25°C (75-77°F) in a 100m2 home if it is kept on round the clock.

Therefore, buy only small air conditioning systems. Having an air con in each room is pointless: a bigger system with a high efficiency but a capacity rating that is smaller than for the intended purpose, coupled with proper air flow throughout the home thanks to airing out and the opening of doors, will be sufficient.


Cost:**
Effectiveness:***
Ease: : ***
Pollution :0 (bad)

Idea no. 5: Restrict the number of energy-consuming devices

As far as energy in concerned, nothing is lost and nothing is created. This means that for every watt of electricity that is consumed, this watt may either be transformed into light or, more often than not, into heat. Using a 2000 Watt oven in summer amounts to heating the house right in the middle of the hot season with 2 portable 1000 Watt radiators. So make cold meals or use the microwave, which is less energy-consuming.


Cost:**
Effectiveness:***
Ease: : ***
Pollution :**

Idea no. 6: Optimize your home

For those who are renovating your home or building one, choose a design that will limit heat losses during winter (triple glazing of north-facing windows, reinforced insulation, etc.) while harnessing as much of the sun's heat as possible (e.g. south-facing bay window) but with a system that also prevents the home from heating up too much during summer heat waves: blinds, awnings, trees that provide the garden and bay windows with some shade, etc.

Such designs are very attractive because a north-facing bay window would be a huge heat sink, whereas if the bay window were to be facing the west, it would cause the house to heat up excessively in summer since the sun is stronger in the afternoon when it is in the west. Therefore, make sure that the west-facing windows are small ones!


Cost (short term):0 (expensive)
Cost (long term):*** (very economical)
Effectiveness:***
Ease: : ***
Pollution :***

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