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Silver_gobo t1_iubtqy9 wrote

Looks like we’re going to be tackling climate change with no air conditioning

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Raider411 t1_iubyo3z wrote

That was my biggest concern immediately after seeing this headline.

The current refrigerant fluids, that replaced the "bad refrigerant(s)" for air conditioners, are already bad in comparison to the previous.

I knew I was going to see this world burn, but thought "at least I'll have AC"

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SignorJC t1_iucg2al wrote

The western world (at least USA) is seriously addicted to air conditioning. There is a lot that can be done to control temperature in buildings, but many many many homes and businesses are cooled below 70F...it's ridiculous. We shouldn't be wearing sweaters to our offices in the summer.

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Frosted-Crocus t1_iuci0zd wrote

Meanwhile I’m fighting with work to get them to shut the gd heat off. It’s a factory; it literally heats itself between all the ovens and machinery, but nope, gotta keep it 95+ because a select few can’t grasp the concept of a sweater.

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Lurking_was_Boring t1_iubzb60 wrote

CO2 refrigerant systems have come a long way in recent years.

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its8up t1_iuc6dhg wrote

The equipment is costly compared to the current stuff. Would be much simpler and cheaper to risk turning your home into a bomb by using hc refrigerants. I have a 1987 RV that cools nicely with isobutane and propane going through an r12 evaporator core. Sure the first test run turned my classic camper into a bomb, as the original evaporator core blew a leak, but nothing detonated and everyone still has their fingers and toes.

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vasya349 t1_iuch53i wrote

At least part of that cost is because it didn’t have the economies of scale or investment HFCs do. 2/3rds of congress wouldn’t pass a law on a subject this contentious if they had any points to score.

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flashmedallion t1_iuc371o wrote

Aircon isn't exactly a solution though, it's a painkiller until we can turn things around

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Silver_gobo t1_iuc3otn wrote

You know most of the southwest is what it is today because of air conditioning, right? Without it, people would’ve never built there in mass.

“Southern California and parts of the American Southwest exist as they do today — populous and prosperous — principally because AC made them OK”

Point being, there was already places in North America that we didn’t want to live in without aircon. Just wait till climate change worsens and having aircon in your house is only for the rich

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flashmedallion t1_iuc48i9 wrote

What does that have to do with anything? Most places are what they are because of fossil fuels too. Keeping the AC running isn't a goal, it's a side benefit of getting things right to the point where we can buffer our comforts sustainably.

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lowgreentent t1_iucnqkr wrote

Southwest has no water either. People need to live somewhere else.

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