More Americans are using air conditioners than ever before [90%]

[Hamartia Antidote]

More Americans are using air conditioners than ever before—here's what that means for the power grid

American Home Shield used EIA data to show how air conditioning usage has grown since 2005 and how it compares across all 50 states.

morganton.com

American Home Shield used EIA data to show how air conditioning usage has grown since 2005 and how it compares across all 50 states.

The concept of air conditioning came about in the 1840s. Still, it wasn't developed until 1902, when Willis Carrier developed a system that could control humidity and cool the air in a building. In the 1920s, movie theater owners installed them in their buildings, giving people another way to beat the heat—and a new reason to pay for a movie ticket.

Residential air conditioning came in the form of window units in the 1930s. The development of central AC and a post-World War II housing boom led to AC being a common fixture in homes.

Today, nearly 9 in 10 U.S. households use air conditioning, with three-quarters using a central AC unit. American Home Shield used data from the Energy Information Administration to show how air conditioning usage has grown since 2005 and how it compares across all 50 states. For this analysis, households include all housing units that are primary residences. Vacant homes, seasonal and second homes, and military housing were excluded.

Air conditioner usage on the rise​

Across the country, more states are experiencing hotter high temperatures, but about 45% of the contiguous United States is also experiencing hotter low temperatures, meaning there's less of a cooling effect from the atmosphere.

Heat waves, or extreme heat events lasting multiple days, have become more prevalent, with "heat wave season"lasting over 72 days, up 36% from the first decade of this century. With an average of over six heat waves a year, air conditioning has become a necessity for many parts of the country.
Today, 22 in 25 housing units (88%) have some form of air conditioning, up from 82% in 2005 and a drastic increase from 68% in 1993. Utilization of central air is also rising as newer housing stock is built—93% of homes built between 2010 and 2020 included air conditioning. Those who rent, particularly in apartment buildings, tend to be those who do not have air conditioning.

How different states rely on air conditioning​

Air conditioning is more prevalent in the central and southern U.S. because of the humidity in those two climates. The Midwest has a mixed-humid climate, which receives more than 20 inches of precipitation annually, but also has an average monthly outdoor temperature below 45 degrees during the winter. The difference in the hot-humid climate of the South is that the temperature is warmer throughout the year. Because air conditioning works to keep humidity at bay, these two regions benefit from it the most.

That said, even the Pacific Northwest's marine climate is not cooling as well as it used to, causing residents of this area to turn to air conditioning. In Seattle, more than half of homes (53%) had air conditioning in 2021, according to the Census Bureau, a 72% increase from 2013.

 

[Dalit]

Superb news for planet earth.

 

[313ghazi]

What's the insulation like on your new build houses and apartments?

 

[-=virus=-]

lungi

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

What's the insulation like on your new build houses and apartments?

It is likely different in the North vs South since the North deals with sub-zero cold and the south with extreme heat.

Where I am it is typically this (the pink layer is typically fiberglass)

 

[CIA Mole]

key is good placement of trees

and ever since i installed solar i could use ac as much as i want

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Air Conditioned Village

This unassuming North Austin neighborhood was built to test the novel idea of home air conditioning.

www.atlasobscura.com

Air Conditioned Village​

This unassuming North Austin neighborhood was built to test the novel idea of home air conditioning.

MANY MODERN-DAY AMERICANS WOULDN’T BE able to survive a summer without a central air conditioning system. Those systems owe much of their existence to this small cluster of about 20 homes in the North Austin neighborhood of Allandale.

In the first half of the 20th century, air conditioning was a luxury that was only found in commercial business settings. But things began to change in the 1950s, when the National Association of Homebuilders came up with the novel idea of using air conditioning equipment in a residential setting.

Austin, Texas was lucky enough to be chosen as the location for a new housing development that would test this new idea. In 1954, these homes and the families living in them were subject to a year-long series of construction method tests, air conditioning installation tests, and social experiments implemented by dozens of the nation’s premier air conditioning companies, builders, and social scientists. The builders tried out a number of different features and technologies, including radiant barriers, white roofing, shading, vented gables, attic fans, and new insulation materials.
Although not quite as famous as they once were in the 1950s, the houses from the Austin Air Conditioned Village are still standing today in what is now a beautiful, quiet neighborhood in North Austin. Thankfully, very few of the homes have been remodeled or demolished due to Allandale’s strict policies on new development, preserving this unique piece of Austin’s history.

Know Before You Go​

The Air Conditioned Village homes are still functional residences, so remember to be mindful of the people living there while you are visiting. The houses are located around the block formed by Twin Oaks Drive, Daugherty Street, Park View Drive, and Nasco Drive, just about 500 feet down Twin Oaks Drive from where it intersects Burnet Road at the 6600 block.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[nahtanbob]

blame it on high density housing