#climateresiliance — Public Fediverse posts

With the #elninio predicted to be terrible for the #Australian summer in 7 months, I've been doing some back of the envelope calculations to upgrade the AC...
Note: This is all for our HEAT SHELTER room.
The bedroom.

With the ambient air temperature hitting 45-46C (114F) that's at the effective limit of split AC systems.

1. Getting a larger wattage, 3.5kW than 2.5kW.
The efficiency of the unit drops off at higher temperatures so the extra wattage gives you wiggle room.
Downside: Thermo shuts off earlier at lower temperatures, may not dehumidify the room.

2. Placing the unit off the ground, as heatwave temps heat ground to 60-70C (158F), as high as practicable (not on roof either as roof heats up)

3. My idea of a water mister before air intake to precool. Or even another AC pre-cooling the intake. I have a couple old single system units I could jimmy rig. This would work, any drop in intake temp is good. 5-15 degrees on a good day.

4. Shading the unit, no brainer, make a small sunshade so the casing is not at 60-70C

5. I will have to look at the external plant units, to make sure intake is on one side and not all around, the better to pre-cool it

6. Power, power cuts happen during the heatwave.
Lucky we put in 16kW solar and battery.
Even with 22% drop in panel efficiency at high T, we still good.
ALWAYS GET HIGHER CAP than you think you will need.

If you have the money, get the industrial chiller HVAC but it's louder and more $

#heat #airconditioning #climateresiliance

PINE TREE POWER
Consumer-Owned Power Could Slash Your Electric Bill

This could change everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aELimf6ct60&ab_channel=MorePerfectUnion

Maine residents will vote this November on whether to create the first statewide consumer-owned utility in the country.
They're facing skyrocketing electricity bills and frequent power outages, while the corporate utilities (CMP and Versant) that dominate the state brought in $187 million in profit last year. Both the companies are owned by foreign entities.
Residents are organizing to take power back into their own hands — literally. A ballot measure on the November ballot could create the consumer-owned utility non-profit Pine Tree Power, and put it under community control.

We talked with residents about what this would mean for them.
#Interview #reverseprivatization #publicowned #statepowergrid #climateresiliance #publicinterest #nonprofit #takethepowerback