Air conditioners have drawn a great deal of criticism of late for their major use of electricity and impact on the environment. Here we take a look at whether that is true, and how to limit the environmental impact of your AC.
There has been a sharp increase in the sales of air conditioning systems in recent years due to global warming which has lead to the debate whether air conditioners are harming our environment or not. The continually increasing use of cooling systems in homes and offices is leading to consumption of large amounts of electricity and as a result, the planet is being further polluted.
Basing his research on the data released by the government, Stan Cox from the Land Institute in Kansas, has revealed that more than 1500 kg of carbon dioxide is emitted each year from air conditioning the average US home.
The impact of this is much worse during the night. In the past, outdoor air used to cool at night in most areas, providing people with a chance to recover from the heat of the day and get a good night sleep. These days, the air cools significantly less at night which is one reason why heat stress is affecting more and more people, says Stan Cox.
While air conditioning is not the only cause of global warming, it is one of the factors that have led to the worsening of the situation. There is an agreement among the experts at present that new housing plans need to take into account climate change when houses are being designed.
To help avoid the harmful effects of electrical air conditioning, there are ways of achieving air conditioning that don't use energy at all. This includes the use of geothermal pumps in which the coolness of the ground is used as a battery. These kind of pumps make use of the the heat from the ground to warm the house during the winter and then in summer time, the pump sends heat from the building into the ground. These geothermal pumps serve two functions with minimal energy consumption and without causing harm to the environment.
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