musings re: air conditioning
Jul. 14th, 2002 11:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anotheranonInteresting radio show, this (scroll down).
For the first time in my life I actually heard it admitted in a public forum that sometimes air conditioning IS overused. The guests pointed out that A/C has contributed many good things to society: fewer people die of heat stroke, allergies are less of a problem because of the controlled air humidity, people can live in places previously deemed uninhabitable because of the prevalence of air conditioning in this country. One of the guests even suggested that the rising economic fortunes of the South are due in part to the prevalence of air conditioning - people moving in from "up north" find it easier to live there if they know they don't have to suffer the heat.
Some of the downsides: Congress can now avoid a summer break and thus wreak more legislative havoc, people have developed an irrational expectation that it should be 72F at ALL TIMES, and have difficulty adapting to a wider range of temperatures, A/C has virtually destroyed friendly neighborhood "front porch" social patterns, because people stay inside rather than go out on the porch to catch a breeze, and architecture has been developed that would be impossible to live in without central air (think small apartment blocks with low ceilings, minimal windows, and no shade trees).
One of the guests pointed out that she could never live in the south because she'd "freeze to death" in the summer - a valid point. I still run around with a sweater or hoodie all summer because it just gets so damn cold. I have short skirts and sandals that D. would like for me to wear except I'd freeze to death.
Hmmm....
For the first time in my life I actually heard it admitted in a public forum that sometimes air conditioning IS overused. The guests pointed out that A/C has contributed many good things to society: fewer people die of heat stroke, allergies are less of a problem because of the controlled air humidity, people can live in places previously deemed uninhabitable because of the prevalence of air conditioning in this country. One of the guests even suggested that the rising economic fortunes of the South are due in part to the prevalence of air conditioning - people moving in from "up north" find it easier to live there if they know they don't have to suffer the heat.
Some of the downsides: Congress can now avoid a summer break and thus wreak more legislative havoc, people have developed an irrational expectation that it should be 72F at ALL TIMES, and have difficulty adapting to a wider range of temperatures, A/C has virtually destroyed friendly neighborhood "front porch" social patterns, because people stay inside rather than go out on the porch to catch a breeze, and architecture has been developed that would be impossible to live in without central air (think small apartment blocks with low ceilings, minimal windows, and no shade trees).
One of the guests pointed out that she could never live in the south because she'd "freeze to death" in the summer - a valid point. I still run around with a sweater or hoodie all summer because it just gets so damn cold. I have short skirts and sandals that D. would like for me to wear except I'd freeze to death.
Hmmm....
