
Heat Wave Results in Highest U.S. Electricity Demand Since 2017 - infodocket
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=40253
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alexilliamson
Since 2017? It's only 2019. Am I missing something?

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repiret
Amusingly the headline could also be written “2018 and 2019 electricity demand
lower than 2017”

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nostromo
That's a boring headline.

Also a boring headline: "US oil use peaked fourteen years ago, in 2005." And
yet, it's also true.

[https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_oil_consumption](https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_oil_consumption)

So is, "US per capita energy use has been falling since 2007."

[https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-03-01/americ...](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-03-01/americans-
electricity-use-just-keeps-falling)

In order to get clicks, you have to frame everything in alarmist terms.

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craftinator
A .gov site is packing headlines to get more clicks? Why do you think that is?

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brink
1 click = 1 tax

~~~
polynomial
1 doge = 1 doge

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irrational
During the recent (ongoing?) European heat wave I read that AC is uncommon in
Europe. I wonder if it will become more common now that heat waves are
becoming more common?

~~~
nine_k
I suspect that many European buildings have good passive thermal insulation,
because of colder and longer winters than in most of the US. This must help
get by with fewer active cooling devices.

Also, European side-opening windows make it much harder to install an AC unit
than American slide-up windows; in many cases your only option is a split
system.

~~~
gerdesj
We (very) generally build with sticks and bricks with uPVC framed double or
triple glazed windows. Double skin of bricks externally, one skin internally
for load bearing walls and wooden "stud" walls for the rest. However there is
a lot of variation after that. Modern building regs stipulate a _lot_ (decent
amount) of thermal insulation in roofs and acoustic insulation between floors
and rooms if possible. When we had our 1920s build modernised somewhat, we had
to have additional steels and wooden structure added to account for potential
additional snow loading on the roof because it would no longer melt quickly.

Yes, we do get good passive cooling in general with this design. Some better
than others. Half of the ground floor (first floor in en_US) of my house is
tiled with underfloor heating. The dogs love it when dumping thermal
overloading - it is cool to the touch regardless of air temperature.

Now, if I wanted to add AC to my house it would not need to account for window
shape. I don't understand that comment. Slide up windows are called sash here
in the UK and are generally associated with the Victorian era! To add AV I
would simply get another consumer unit added to my home 'leccy feed. Then I
would fit the internal air out in the primary living area and connect to the
external unit by drilling holes in the wall. Not sure where the windows fit
into this. Oh and I'd try and fail to get the wife to close the bloody doors.

Not going to happen - I'll stick to being British and whine when it gets warm.

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com2kid
The majority of American air conditioning units are window mounted, like
these: [https://www.consumerreports.org/window-air-
conditioners/how-...](https://www.consumerreports.org/window-air-
conditioners/how-to-size-a-window-air-conditioner/)

As an example, the house I grew up in, late 1940s, was piped for heating only,
to an oil furnace. When my parents wanted an AC, they got a window unit.
(Bonus: The original heating system had ceiling vents, at some points the
house was re-vented for floor vents)

My place has in floor heating, if I wanted AC there aren't any vents in my
house, so same thing, I'd have to get a window unit.

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wil421
That is not true most houses built in the US have central AC not window
mounted. They might be popular on the West Coast but the majority of house do
not have those.

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jefftk
Most new housing in the US has central AC, but most housing here predates that
being standard.

In the Northeast especially, window units are very common.

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chiph
ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas), which operates the third grid
in the US, has a page with realtime load data:

[http://www.ercot.com/content/cdr/html/real_time_system_condi...](http://www.ercot.com/content/cdr/html/real_time_system_conditions.html)

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pier25
AC is a positive feedback. The warmer the planet, the more AC is used, the
more electricity is generated, the more GHG are emitted. Repeat.

Of course this cycle could be broken with renewables, but the vast majority of
the world's electricity comes from fossil fuels.

~~~
heymijo
Very true and let me add a note. "Positive feedback" in everyday terms seems
like a good thing. In systems speak:

> _A positive feedback loop speeds up a process._ [0]

So in this context, that is highly undesirable.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_leverage_points](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_leverage_points)

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frankbreetz
It seems like energy demand created by heatwaves should be low hanging fruit
for compensating with solar power. It seems the sun is usually shining during
a heatwave. Am I oversimplifying or missing something here?

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hmd_imputer
Why is this even news? What is next? The temperature is highest since the last
week?

