Lloyd Alter modifying sketch by Victor Olglay
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Air conditioning is a relatively recent addition to houses, but has completely changed their design. Designers never worry much any more about cross-ventilation, window sizes, window openings, or orientation; just let the thermostat do the work. But it is all a lot more complicated that that.
What's in the Efficient Heating and Cooling Guide?
A look at different heating and cooling systems that can be used within a single, usually detached home. But choosing a heating or cooling system is only part of the story, and is often part of the problem.
We have become too used to setting a thermostat and spending money on fossil fuels or electricity to get the temperature to where we want it to be. But in these times we have to think of our heating or cooling equipment as part of a system that involves the design and orientation of the entire home and the layout within the home.
A home can be designed so that it doesn't need heating or cooling. A home should also be designed with materials and technologies appropriate for the climate; you shouldn't build the same house in Arizona and Oregon, yet that is what the builders do.
We also have to change our expectations that we have to live at 68 degrees and 40 percent humidity all year round; our bodies can adapt to a wide range of temperatures and humidities. If we work with the climate, with the prevailing winds and sun and shade instead of just cranking the thermostat back and forth, we can do a lot more with a lot less hardware.
What Makes Heating and Cooling Energy Efficient?
Our job at Planet Green is to provide the information necessary to help people make the kind of decisions that need to be made to significantly reduce our carbon footprints. That is not necessarily the same goal as the guy selling Ground Source Heat Pumps or replacement windows, who doesn't care about the twenty or fifty years it will take to justify the investment.
None of these systems should be considered on their own; they are part of a complex piece of physical and mechanical equipment, combined with the input and exhaust of the humans within it. Unfortunately the furnace salesman doesn't travel with the window salesman and we don't tend to look at these things together, but everything connects.
Take a look at our heating and cooling guide to see how the pieces fit together and what systems are right for you, your needs and budget.
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