How hot is it?

[Kupek]

This hot:

[Imakeholesinu]

My Stepmother's Lasapsa used to do that. Spread eagle on the lenolium.

After hitting 100 on Monday and 97 on Tuesday it's 79 today in STL.

[Tortolia]

Yesterday was the hottest day in the last two years in this area. Not sure how today stacked up compared to it, but it felt similarly bad.

Thank god for office work.

[Julius Seeker]

I like living in the coolness of Canada, though we did have a few days reaching around 40 degrees (that's like 105 in American). Too hot for me; I spent every daylight hour where I wasn't working either swimming or lying back on the beach. The temperature has dropped right down since the thunder showers though.

This summer seems to be strangely hot, bot as bad as a few years ago where every day was 30+

[the Gray]

I think the average temperature in July for Ontario will end up being around 30. It was insane early in the month, 35+ and is only now getting down into the mid 20's.

I don't mind though, as it's SUMMER and I have to deal with the damn cold all winter.

[Nev]

Man, I wish America would go metric.

[Flip]

NEVER!

[Nev]

(Challenges Flip to virtual duel, equips MeterSword)

[Julius Seeker]

I think the average temperature in July for Ontario will end up being around 30. It was insane early in the month, 35+ and is only now getting down into the mid 20's.

I don't mind though, as it's SUMMER and I have to deal with the damn cold all winter.

I prefer the cold of winter to the hot of summer, it is much cheaper to heat a house in the winter than to cool it down in the summer. Although my ancestors were Vikings; "we come from the land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow." Although I very much enjoy the seasons, I wouldn't give away any of them.

[Agent 57]

It is much cheaper to heat a house in the winter than to cool it down in the summer.

How the heck do you figure that one?

In the winter, I have to keep my gas heat on all the time, and even though my thermostat is only set to 64 degrees F, my gas bills for months like Jan/Feb/Mar are usually into the triple digits.

In the summer, however, I open my windows and use a fan at night, and that keeps my house comfortable enough for me. (Unless it's a ridiculous day like yesterday when I couldn't stand the 85 degrees F internal temp plus the ridiculous humidity, so I turned the A/C on for the night - but that's only set to 80 degrees F.)

Anyway - the point is, my monthly electric bills for this time of year have barely broken the $25 barrier, and that includes the extra surcharge I pay to use wind/small hydro for my power.

So what the heck do you do, keep your house at 50 degrees F year-round?

[SineSwiper]

Gas is more expensive than electricity. Enough said.

[Flip]

Plus, in the winter you are changing the temperature in your house by +60-70 degrees, in the summer you are only cooling it -10 or -20... Wouldnt it make sense that you would use more electricity for such a larger degree difference?

[Kupek]

Plus, in the winter you are changing the temperature in your house by +60-70 degrees, in the summer you are only cooling it -10 or -20... Wouldnt it make sense that you would use more electricity for such a larger degree difference?

Not necessarily. Heating something is easy; we've been heating buildings for millenia. At its most basic, all you need is fire and some means to distribute the heat. There's no "wasted" energy because all heat output is useful for heating the building.

A cooling system, however, has a lot of "wasted" energy. All physical processes consume more energy than they output. Hence, any physical process that creates cooling of some kind (A/C, refridgerator) must produce <i>even more heat</i>. If you stick a refridgerator in the middle of a room and open its door, the room will get <i>hotter</i>. This is why the back end of window A/C units must be outside.

So, no, it does not follow that a smaller temperature change necessarily means less energy is used because you're ignorning which direction the change occurs.

[SineSwiper]

You cannot "create" cold air. You can only transfer heat.

[Nev]

Only at the Shrine could a post with a prostrate squirrel picture turn into an argument about heat transfer.

[SineSwiper]

Well, the squirrel is prostrate because of the heat.

[Kupek]

You cannot "create" cold air. You can only transfer heat.

Yes, I'm well aware of that. The phrase "creates cooling of some kind" is fine because "cooling" in itself implies energy transfer.

[SineSwiper]

I wasn't trying to be critical of your explaination, just state a point to Flip.

[the Gray]

Well it's pretty cheap for me in the Summer, as I don't want or need AC.

I open a window, how expensive is that?

Comparatively, the winter is ridiculous on my energy bill. Because of that, I'm getting a new high efficiency gas furnace, with a variable speed motor installed this month.

The initial cost is about #3,500 Cdn but it will pay for itself in 5 years.

[Kupek]

Well it's pretty cheap for me in the Summer, as I don't want or need AC.

I open a window, how expensive is that?

I take it you don't live in an area with high humidity.

[Agent 57]

Meh, even high humidity can be handled without A/C for the most part - I've only needed to turn the thing on three times all summer.

And <i>don't</i> try to tell me that New England doesn't get humid. We get the full brunt of all four seasons here - from single digit temps buried under three feet of snow to days when it's 87 with 95% humidity. (Now I just need to remind myself why the hell I live here again.)

[Julius Seeker]

Get oil heating, I spend about 1000 per year, about 400 of that during the winter quarter.

25 bucks for electricity a month is phenominally good. My bill averages about $130 per month for my house and my cottage (which is shut off for nearly half the year). I don't consider myself a large electricity user either since I almost never watch any TV.