Bill Gates Air Conditioning Tips

Microsoft should stick to writing crappy software:

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Here's my favorite energy saving tip from the article:

'Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents; they produce the same light but use a fifth the energy and heat '

I wasn't aware that light bulbs used heat to operate. But if this is true, wouldn't you want to install bulbs that use more heat in the summer, and then in the winter install bulbs that use less heat?

I wish someone would have told me that all I need to do to keep my house cool was turn on every light in the house.

Also, because the debate about shading the condensor is simply fascinating stuff, here is MS's take on it:

'Plant trees or shrubs to shade air conditioning units, but not block the airflow. A unit operating in the shade uses less electricity. '
Reply to
Matt
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No doubt the same one who developed I.E.

Reply to
G Henslee

Hmmm....

All those little insect wings flapping may reduce the temp.....

Reply to
Matt

Everything you posted above is absolutely true... Perhaps you need a bit more explanation, so here it is.

Incandenscent lights turn MOST of the electricity they use into light of a frequency that we cannot see. That light, which we call "infrared" just bounces around in a room and heats up the place. Fluorescent converts MORE of the electricity into light that our eyes respond to. Consequently,, if the goal is to "see", fluorescent is the better choice. It is also more costly to buy... so it is a tradeoff.... If you use incandescent in the winter, when you need heat, you are "helping" your furnace. If you use fluorescent in the summer when you need "cool", you are helping your air conditioner..... However, you have to weight the COST of the fluorescent lights against the SAVINGS in electricity used.

Personally, I use a LOT of incandescents inthe winter and unscrew a LOT of the bulbs in the summer...Just my method.....

Regarding shading the airconditioner......

Direct sunlight puts about 1000 watts per square meter onto the earth. That means that in the summer (or winter ), not only is the outside of your air conditioner condenser heated by the surrounding air , but it ALSO get an extra 1000 watts or so from continuous sunlite.... 1000 watts is about 5000 BTU, so it would take a 5000 watt air conditioner running full time just to get rid of the heat from direct sun radiation which shines on your outside consdenser unit.... Roughly 12 cents an hour extra, during daytime....

So, if you plant a screen , like a bush or tree, in from of the condenser, you get rid of this undesired direct heat source..... ........ if you block the air flow, tho, you are screwing things up...

The preceeding explanation is exactly accurate, although it does not include several other factors which merely confuse the issue for the novice........ If one wishes to discuss in detail some of these factors, and get into depth,..... let's do it by email......

Andy Registered PE in Texas , MS, BS, GMDSS, NCE, etc

Reply to
Andy

No, actually it was not.

The article says that flourescent bulbs USE LESS heat then incandescent bulbs.

Which therefore means that incandescent bulbs USE MORE heat.

Which means no one needs an AC unit, all they need to do is replace all the bulbs in their house with 500 watt halogen floodlights, and soon the indoor temperature will drop, because the halogens are using up all the heat in the house.

Or at least, thats the theory Mr Gates people profess.

As far as shading the condensor, I don't know either way, but there have been fierce battles about it over in another group whose name I won't mention here.

Reply to
Matt

Also, under tree canopy air temps can be as much as 10-15F cooler than open air, thus improving heat exchange efficiency....

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

No, actually they'll raise it (slightly) by the work input...

Always will remember my first reaction to learning how reactor coolant was heated to hot standy...reactor coolant pump impeller work was sufficient to raise water temp to 550 F at 2200 psi w/ flow of 131E6 lb/hr...my first thought was "Wow!!"

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

....

Although very poorly worded...I think that was the intended point of the post.

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

You can't be serious are you? Heat is the by-product of the light bulb, fluorescents give off less heat. As for giving off the same amount of light. I don't like them at all, I bought a bunch for my house, and the strongest one I found barely lit my laundry room.

Glenn

Reply to
HopsNBarley

I am not a A/C guy but it happened at work and this is the expalantion they gave us: THere is a fixed temperature difference between the outside coils and the inside coils. As the outside coils get hotter so do the inside coils but they always maintain the same delta temperature. To cool the inside air, the inside coils have to be cooler than the inside air. IF the outside coils are so hot that the inside coils are only at 70 degrees than the cooling effect for the inside air will be minimal (less effiecient). At work they said the rooftop coils were sitting at 150 degrees. Hence the lack of cooling. Not sure I believe them. SO if you can keep the outside coils cooler, the inside coils will be cooler and you will consume less electricity.

Reply to
Jmagerl

Actually, I've never quite understood why they shouldn't be sheltered from the sun, but I only wonder about it and never do anything to find out why. Anyone know why?

Reply to
Doug Kanter

Great translation by an incompetent probably.

They do "produce" heat. In the winter, I'm less careful about turning lights off that are not being used. The light does convert to heat energy, so it will in turn heat the house and not be wasted. Of course this was probably re-written by some software babe, not from the original tech writer.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

They do a fabulous job of drawing even MORE bugs to my porch than an incandescent bulb. Not scientifically tested, but it seems that way.

Reply to
Doug Kanter

I'd hazard a guess and say the same reason your car sheet metal gets hotter when parked in the sun rather than shade-radiant heat. Compressor shell gets hotter, condenser fins exposed to radiant heat.. Translates to higher head pressures..

But without going through a lot a machinations, not easy to prove analytically...

Reply to
Rick

Many thousands of years ago, I worked at a Steakhouse. The rooftop airconditioner was inadequate and old. During very hot weather, some of us would take turns up on the roof, squirting the coils with a garden hose. It made a BIG difference in the ability of the unit to cool the restaurant.

rusty redcloud.

Reply to
Red Cloud©

We have a similar situation with the outdoor heat exchanger for our air compressor at work. (150 HP). During the hot weather it was getting marginal and causing compressor shutdown. So, some brilliant guy set up a lawn sprinkler under it. Cooled it down quite a bit, but with too much force, it also bent some of the fins reducing air flow. It is better now, after somebody laid under it and straightened fins for a few hours.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

So, considering all this information, which is intuitive, I wonder why HVAC companies don't either sell (and make money on) or recommend at least a cover mounted a few feet over the top of AC units, or least a section of fence or something on the sunniest side.

Reply to
Doug Kanter

Yes, software writers are not the best. The first sentence has two components but whoever wrote the sentence acted as if it were one component--energy and heat. Nonetheless, just about every thinking person with English as a primarily language would know what the sentence intended.

AC people like to argue about the effect of shade, focusing only on air temperatures. Apparently they never stood outside in the boiling sun or compared temperatures in houses that were fully illuminated by the sun with house that were shaded by trees.

Reply to
George E. Cawthon

If it was from a tech writer, he or she isn't very good, but most/many electronic/software tech writers seem to have language problems. It would not surprise me if the sentence came directly from an engineer.

Reply to
George E. Cawthon

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Back of dry white out package:

"The safety is not poisoned."

Translated in China.

Reply to
Mike Dobony

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