The sun is shining, beaches are populated, sandals are out, and the AC is on. It is summer, and it's predicted to be a hot one! This means your AC unit will be pumping out full force. However, this could be adding significantly to global warming and interfering on otherwise green living.
Air conditioning units add large amounts of carbon - a gas known to help farther global warming by insulating the planet - to otherwise green homes. Carbon dioxide emissions are predicted to play a larger role than it has in the past in the United States' national energy total.
The southwestern states are predicted to get the brunt of the extra US heat due to global warming, which starts a sick cycle of using AC units, which emits gases that promote global warming, which makes the areas nearer the equator warmer, which results in higher AC use... and the cycle continues.
The stats on your AC unit are as follows:
* AC units use up about 1/6th of the US electricity
* 43% of the US peak power load is consumed by AC units on a hot day
* Heating and cooling units emit over half a billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per year
* AC generates about 24% of the nation's sulfur dioxide, a chief ingredient in acid rain
AC units can affect your retirement budget as well as your efforts of a green home and green living. There are personal and social/environmental costly disadvantages to air conditioning units, as stated below.
* Increased utility bill
* Indoor air quality problems
* Electrical blackouts
* Noise
* Climate change and smog
* Social isolation
Some might say that although AC units are so detrimental to the environment, they are a necessity for a retired lifestyle. It is true that many seniors have a harder time staying comfortable and healthy in a heated environment, especially while being active and cleaning or gardening around the home. There are, however, green living alternatives to ACs.
Green Living Alternatives to Typical AC Units
* Installing ceiling fans
* Insulating the attic floor keeps heat from radiating down into the house and adding radiant barriers, a foil-faced paper that can be stapled on the underside of your roof rafters
* Caulking/weather stripping windows and doors to keep warm air from seeping indoors
* Shading techniques including gardening, drapes and blinds-planting three trees strategically around your home can save 0-250 in your annual energy costs
* Hanging wet clothes after washing them in the frame of an open door of window instead of using a dryer-this will decrease your energy bill by substantial amounts
* Programmable thermostats where you decrease the energy by 10-15% for 8 hours a day
* Use compact fluorescent bulbs as opposed to incandescent lights-they emit 90% less heat and use 75% less energy
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