An air conditioner under repair in Austin, Texas earlier this month. The US is currently experiencing record-breaking temperatures, causing people to use their air conditioners more often. However, these extreme temperatures pose a challenge to air conditioning systems, which are typically designed to keep indoor temperatures approximately 20 degrees cooler than outdoors. Srinivas Garimella, a professor of mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech, explains that most new air conditioning systems in the US are designed for a 95-degree day. As temperatures rise above this, compressors have to work harder and consume more electricity, making the problem worse. Higher humidity also adds to the load on an air conditioning system. Installing a larger air conditioner may seem like a solution, but it is not efficient if it is oversized for most of the time. To maximize the effectiveness of an air conditioner, experts advise setting a comfortable temperature on the thermostat and leaving it alone, cleaning filters and coils regularly, turning off heat-producing appliances during the hottest part of the day, using ceiling fans for added comfort, cooling down the house at night and shading windows during the day. Longer-term solutions include improving insulation and using trees to provide shade. Variable-speed compressors, although more expensive, are more efficient than single-speed ones. However, there is currently no groundbreaking technology in air conditioning that will revolutionize the industry.
Tips from NPR: How to Keep Cool in Extreme Heat When Your Air Conditioner is Not Designed for It
Denial of responsibility! Swift Telecast is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – swifttelecast.com. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.