Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug
To save energy, I don't use AC or heat at home and rely entirely on solar for hot water. In Perth, summer days can exceed 40C maybe 20 days per year and are between 30 and 40 maybe 90 days per year, but humidity is generally low. You learn to adapt by, for example closing the blinds during the day, opening windows as soon as they are no longer in the sun, dressing lightly and spending as much time as possible outdoors. In the winter, lows rarely dip below about 8C. The solar water heater doesn't work well in the winter, but even the cold tap water in Perth never falls below about 20C. Besides saving money, shunning AC is great for avoiding colds and flus and encouraging outdoor activities. My workplace only cools to 24C to save money and has relaxed dress codes to allow people to dress for the heat.
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Yes, there are so many variables to contrast our opinions and thoughts on this subject.
In Montreal, the winter weather is brutal for two to three months of the year and cold for 2 to 3 other months. There are periods of extreme cold which means that the air is dry, but days where the temperature rises and the dampness makes the cold feel worse. As you mention about the cold water, in January here, the water is extremely cold, and in the summertime it is barely cool in June, July and August.
I put the AC on in my car, and at work when it is available on site, which it has been recently pretty much everywhere.I work at different studios or film locations and often the latter will have added portable systems for the duration of pre-production and filming schedules. I work in shorts and t-shirt the whole summer, I couldn’t stand working in pants like some colleagues do.
The heat here has become pretty intense this year, and the humidity in high summer is what makes it more difficult to bear. I don’t have the AC at home but we all have fans in our bedrooms and I actually like the feel of air instead of cold air throughout. I may be moving to a house in the Eastern Townships near the Vermont border soon if I sell my present house, though. There, the AC and most of the heat will be generated with the Heat pump, and some with space heaters and radiant heat in the floors. The owner there puts the AC at a nice, comfortable setting, not too cold.