Temperature Control

It is definitely easy to take important technologies for granted. I find that the technology I least appreciate is that which I am not in direct control of. I have my cell phone and my laptop with me all the time so it is hard to forget that they are important to me (and that they cost quite a lot, and that I am unwilling to leave them unsupervised for even a trip down the hall and back). However, only when I venture out into the oppressive heat of midday Raleigh do I fully appreciate the value of the air conditioning, refrigeration, and running water that I routinely use to keep cool.

It’s amazing to me, having thought about it more today than I ever had before, that we have the technology to cool down millions of people simultaneously. The numbers behind this feat are probably extraordinary. I would be interested in seeing just how much electricity is used by, say, everyone in the Triangle on air conditioning. I would also like to know how much is used on refrigeration and cooling of food and water, and other essentials. I think that by comparing these numbers with other common uses we would find that an enormous part of our energy expenditure goes to keeping us cool (or in the colder parts of the year, warm).

This is intriguing to me further in that it makes me wonder if this is an opportunity to save energy. Why can’t we approach the energy problem by breaking it into parts, and approaching those individually? It certainly wouldn’t hurt to make homes and other buildings more resistant to outside temperature changes, and therefore less in need of temperature control. It wouldn’t hurt to make refrigerators, freezers, and heating and air conditioning units more efficient in their use of energy. In my opinion, if people were willing to tolerate one degree higher temperatures in the summer and one degree lower temperatures in the winter, lots and lots of energy expenditure could be completely avoided. One degree of difference wouldn’t be that significant to the people having to feel it, but compounded over millions of households and businesses, I don’t think the savings would be anything to sneeze at.