We're Melting!
As I take the on-ramp to I-405 South on an early summer morning, I notice my surroundings. The sky above me is light blue and cloudless. On the horizon, I see a hint of smog in the distance. I glance at the car’s dashboard. The time is 6:05 am, and the temperature reads 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Since the forecast high is 100, I’m getting an early start for my weekend bike ride.
Where am I? If you guessed Los Angeles, that answer makes sense. But after a few miles on 405, I take I-90 East toward Spokane and take the exit to Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah, Washington near Seattle.
Historical weather data from the 1940s through 2020 shows that the highest temperature ever recorded for June in Seattle is 96 degrees. The average high temperature for June here is 71. By mid-afternoon on June 26, 2021, the sensor in my backyard reads 103 in the shade.
After two more days of record heat, I open my pantry and notice that my jar of coconut oil has melted. The glass jar is still intact (it wasn’t that hot!), but the oil inside has turned to a clear liquid. That’s what happens in a house without air conditioning.
Even if you don’t live in the Seattle area, you have likely read the news about the historic heat wave that hit the western US states the last week of June. The weather forecast looked like what I would expect for Las Vegas this time of year.
But there’s one key difference—buildings in Las Vegas have air conditioning (A/C). Here, residential A/C is still rare, even in the relatively wealthy communities. It doesn’t seem to be a wise investment when the temperature rarely rises above 85 degrees.
I’ve been resisting putting in A/C. It is not just the cost that concerns me. In a two-story house, the A/C needs to run longer to cool the upstairs to a comfortable temperature, by which time the downstairs is too cold. I’m already trying to reduce my household energy consumption. Installing A/C will not help with that.
In addition to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from running A/C units, disposal is yet another problem. Project Drawdown, a nonprofit organization that evaluates methods to reduce global GHG emissions, compared the effects of various possible changes. The results surprised me. The greatest reduction comes from proper disposal of the chemical refrigerants used in refrigerators and A/C units. Harnessing the power of wind energy comes in second.
Graphic credit Sirajum Munir Galib. From Rethink the Bins by Julia L F Goldstein.
From the perspective of energy and money, I am best off not installing A/C. But what about my and my family’s comfort? Climate trends suggest that hotter summers are coming. The obscenely high temperatures (it hit 115 in downtown Bellevue, Washington!) will, hopefully, not return for a long time. But heat domes that create higher than usual temperatures will likely occur more often.
Then there’s the fire risk that comes with hotter, drier, summer weather. The last time I seriously considered A/C was in the summer of 2018, the second summer in a row that Washington was literally on fire. I normally run the whole house fan at night to cool down the upstairs. It works when outdoor temperatures are cooler than indoors. But when the air is smoky, opening up the windows and turning on the fan blows ash into our house.
I’m still on the fence about A/C. In the short term, however, I am relieved that the temperature has dropped to comfortable levels. I can exercise outdoors after 6 am without overheating, the fan keeps our house cool enough, and my coconut oil has started to solidify.