Air Conditioner

Eric Cartman wrote: »

those are air to water heat pumps , work on the same principal but are not air conditioners.

They can also be air conditioners, it depends on what the unit inside the apartment is. The outdoor unit will look the same but indoors you can have an air to air system which provides both heat in winter and if you want air conditioning in summer. Have one myself and last week when it hit 25c I got home to a roasting hot stuffy house. Turned on the air to air system in reverse mode and it cooled down the house to 17c in about 10 minutes. It was only the second time this summer I used it as air con but it does a great job.

For anyone replacing a storage heating system in an apartment an air to air heat pump system is a good way to go. There is a higher initial investment but they are remarkably efficient on electricity and a world apart compared to using those awful storage heaters that are ubiquitous in Irish apartments. A huge amount of apartments in countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy operate off an air to air heat pump system that gives both air con in summer and heat in winter.

Xgemone wrote: »

What's so surprising? Can't people use air conditioning?

Maybe it was surprising 9 months ago. You know, when the last post was made.

Xgemone wrote: »

What's so surprising? Can't people use air conditioning?

Judging by people I see during the summer months driving around with the windows down in their cars with some of the best climate control known to man the answer would be no. Either thick or penny pinching the 2mpg they would save turning it off.

Dav010 wrote: »

Some people like fresh air, it’s free.

Peasant people.

Del2005 wrote: »

If you are driving in a town or city it's not fresh air. Climate control with a regularly replaced cabin filer is fresher and modern systems don't use much fuel.

Everyone to their own.

Air con is useful in hot climates.

In Ireland, it's simply irrelevant

Mrs OBumble wrote:

In Ireland, it's simply irrelevant

I have to disagree. Forgetting about the comfort levels everyone can enjoy, many people can't leave windows open during summer months due to hey fever. AC is a life saver for some people. I can't drive with a window down nor can I open windows in the house during the summer. AC units can also heat up the room. It can purify the air & some have a dehumidifier built in.

I can't imagine life without AC tbh

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Air con is useful in hot climates.

In Ireland, it's simply irrelevant

AC in humid "damp" climates like Ireland is essential in cars to dehumidify.

TBH most cars and indeed what gets put into homes is not AC but Climate Control that does a lot more. Sets humidity, reduces dust/allergens, ensures appropriate air circulation. As we move to A+ rated and in some cases passive homes that are literally airtight, Climate Control is going to become a more common feature in Irish homes. As others have pointed out - most likely in form of reversible heat pumps which suit the narrow temperature band we are lucky to have. These are more economic than GFCH what was the standard. Also the increased wealth in Ireland, and the increased cost of housing means these systems are not the luxury they once were. I think someone else pointed out they are a god-send of allergy sufferers. I would never go back. It's extraordinary how pleasant a instantly dehumidified bathroom is in winter without a noisy fan.

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I have to disagree. Forgetting about the comfort levels everyone can enjoy, many people can't leave windows open during summer months due to hey fever. AC is a life saver for some people. I can't drive with a window down nor can I open windows in the house during the summer. AC units can also heat up the room. It can purify the air & some have a dehumidifier built in.

I can't imagine life without AC tbh

Yeah Ive an air to air heat pump that I never bought for its AC function but now I have it I love it. Would only use it as an air conditioner perhaps 8-10 days a year but its nice to cool down a house that has heated up like a greenhouse on a hot day. It also operates over wifi/smartphone so on a really hot day I can have the house already cooled down to 16 or 17 degrees before I even get home. I dont worry about the cost either as the heat pump is delivering about 3-4kwh of hot or cold air for every 1kwh of electricity used, its a really efficient system that will have paid for itself in a few years.

C14N wrote: »

I think Europeans in general just have kind of a cultural idea that air-conditioning is for sissies and that our weather is only hot for a bit anyway so no point in getting it (this attitude persists even in places that have consistently hotter summers than Ireland too), but living in apartments in Dublin the last few years I've had an awful lot of very hot and humid days where I would have loved for something to help cool the place down a bit. Despite the fact that it's supposedly pointless because it's never hot enough, almost any commercial building will still have it (the one office I worked in that didn't and relied on fans was a nightmare to work in during even the early months of summer). If it wasn't for the negative environmental impact, I'd wish we had a good bit more here.

Houses that get too warm in Ireland are basically suffering from design flaws, eg carelessly designed south facing windows. There are a lot of options to keeping a house cool that don’t require A/C and have lower running costs like external shutters or permeant decorative meshes by windows.It is an issue that will get worse due to the rend for massive windows continues.

C14N wrote: »

I'm going to take your word for it, but an AC is a lot cheaper than redesigning an apartment block to more optimally face the sun, and people generally don't want shutters to block out the light on sunny days. In my previous apartment (on second floor), even on the west-facing balcony temperatures were frequently 25+C in the evening.

I see where you are coming from but it depends a lot. Some houses probably cant be fixed. Some too hot houses are too hot due to poor design of the ducted ventilation system. Correcting this will keep the house less humid too. I am a noise freak so the drone of AC bothers me but it would suits other people. With a brise soleil you still see through the window, just the glass is in shade at noon during summer but not in the evenings or when it is winter. very simple low tech solution. Another factor is the decline in hard plaster walls which can keep a house cool over a hot summer. Drywall just won't do this.

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Just to put Irish weather in context. 20c humid night in Dublin can be much hotter and stickier than Spain or Portugal at 25c

I’ve been in 51deg heat in the Middle East that felt cooler than a hot day in Ireland

In my place there is an air to air heat pump in the living area only.
Heats it up for pennies in the winter.
But in summer you can reverse it an oh my, the ac is lovely. Worth it just for that aspect of it.

JimmyVik wrote:

In my place there is an air to air heat pump in the living area only. Heats it up for pennies in the winter. But in summer you can reverse it an oh my, the ac is lovely. Worth it just for that aspect of it.

It's the heat pumps that will make domestic ac huge in Ireland. You might not spend a few thousand on ac but when it comes free as part of the heat pump then you will definitely use it at least a few times during the summer months.

Yellow_Fern wrote:

That is an interesting point. Cooling is most needed in high pressure weather in summer when there is little wind which won't be so helpful to meeting carbon needs even if heat pumps are extremely efficient.

Well if you read in the EV threads they'd have you believe that all the wind power goes into their cars.

There is no denying ACs aren't great for the planet. I do l think that very few people run for more than the hottest days of the year though.