I had exactly the same reaction. It was the first article I'd read in Wired in years, and I was... unimpressed. (Are their stats about the pounds of CO2 released nationally by A/C vs. heating incorrect? That's the part I wasn't sure about.)
Are their stats about the pounds of CO2 released nationally by A/C vs. heating incorrect? Possibly, possibly not. But it is incorrect if you normalize with cooling degree days vs. heating degree days.
This specific statement Since air-conditioning is inherently more efficient than heating (that is, it takes less energy to cool a given space by 1 degree than to heat it by the same amount) is completely wrong.
Even if heating was done purely by electricity (which is isn't), they compared pure heat generation to a heat pump. Ignoring the fact that you can use heat pumps to HEAT an area as well as cool it.
It also ignores the fact that everything in a building generates heat, so the same building needs to move less energy on a 1 heating degree day than on a 1 cooling degree day.
In fact, there are so many things wrong with this, I can't even begin to understand how they could say it.
Comments 7
Reply
Reply
Possibly, possibly not. But it is incorrect if you normalize with cooling degree days vs. heating degree days.
Reply
Could you point out a specific claim in the piece that you believe is wrong?
Reply
Reply
This specific statement Since air-conditioning is inherently more efficient than heating (that is, it takes less energy to cool a given space by 1 degree than to heat it by the same amount)
is completely wrong.
Even if heating was done purely by electricity (which is isn't), they compared pure heat generation to a heat pump. Ignoring the fact that you can use heat pumps to HEAT an area as well as cool it.
It also ignores the fact that everything in a building generates heat, so the same building needs to move less energy on a 1 heating degree day than on a 1 cooling degree day.
In fact, there are so many things wrong with this, I can't even begin to understand how they could say it.
Reply
Everything else is so vague or misleading that the concepts of truth and falsity barely matter.
--Chris
Reply
Leave a comment