"Simon Gardner" [dot]co[dot]uk wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Tom Bennett" wrote:

I've had a few arguments with people who've used these that *unless*
there
is a vent to take the hot exhaust air outside, the machines just add to
the
overall temperature in the room that they're supposedly keeping cool.
Most
of the "portable" (freestanding) units don't have this: they blow cool
air
out of the front (giving the illusion of cooling the room) - and hot air
(i.e. the heat taken from the air + the heat caused by the machine
operating) out of the back, thus adding to the overall heat in the room.

All these machines have the facility to vent to the outside. I have never
seen one that doesn't.

However the portable machines remain pretty crap - particularly (for
obvious reasons) the evaporative ones). I long ago abandoned them for a
proper installed split system which is operating very nicely, thankyou.

These are also common in offices.


despite innacurate previous posters ac in offices in major cities in the uk
is the norm, no office block in central London would survive without it,
take an aerial look at offices and you will see virtually every one with an
ac plant on the roof. Re portable units they are vented to the outside, are
very inneficient and noisy as the compressor has to be housed inside the
unit. Evap coolers are a total waste of money. Proper fixed split packs are
not expensive starting at about 800-00, far less than a central heating
system. there is a huge ignorance in the uk whereas in the u.s. the public
are far more informed.
Pete

wrote:


Could you translate that, please?




......... I think the hot weather brings the pedants out! Usenet nanny
syndrome I think..... offer him 100,000 guineas for his house, bet he
wouldn't ask for that in £ before he accepted...

To answer your question qualitivly.......

No, air con is not the norm in the UK. Some of the larger shops use it.
and a few of the corporate buildings. More prevalent in the commercial
sector. But my partner works for the local council here in Folkestone, Kent
and the original open plan building with good airflow has been divided up
into little rooms and departments. The heat is stifling in there.... hot
enough to lose staff. (One girl stayed 2 days and left 'cos of the heat)
They have no air con whatsoever. Open a window, loosen your tie... use a
desk fan......but air con? No chance......
As for private homes, it's very very scarce. Central heating not standard
yet even.... Air con is considered a plaything of the rich, there is no
advertising for it on TV, I've seen none in newspapers.... I've seen a few
portable ones in the last insurance office I worked in but I had to explain
about legionaries disease as they were just recycling the same old water
condensed out of the room with no anti bacterial additives or cleaning
regime at all.... 200 people on the phones in one room with two paltry
little virus spreaders... scary stuff!

it's still the 1950's in most of Britain.....

Les

Hmmm. Things haven't changed much since I left, then.
I'm toying with the idea of investing in a British a/c manufacturer, get in on
the ground floor sort of thing, and then as the dreaded Global
Warming steps up and England's summer temperatures become like the
sout of France, well ....

But seriously, you're right: these makeshift a/c units don't sound
too great.
The one built into this one-floor, 8 room house is massive.
In effect, the building is really just a huge refrigerator, with warm
indoor air passing across or between coils filled with
whatsitcalled, freon? a circulating liquid gas.
Actually the coolant in our replacement unit is some new substance
that doesn't harm the environment;
the old coolant gas has been outlawed.
Indoors, there is a powerful electric motor propelling the cooled
and filtered air through vents in every room and passage at about
76 Fahrenheit.
Gratifyingly efficient.
The bad news is, the monthly electric bills for 5 or 6 months
are terribly painful!
Stay cool, man ...
--
Ian
(do not Reply by email: sum1else wrote this)

"Dave C" wrote in message
...
One thing that has changed in the UK is that no new self respecting modern
car comes without aircon. Even now in small hatchbacks and non top-end
models. This is because someone has at last realised that if you park your
car in the sun in March it reaches about 40C inside and unless you like
having your head blown off and being deafened by the noise it takes ages
to
cool!!

Dave


thats true dave, 70% of all new cars sold in britain today now have ac
fitted, proper climate control is fitted in higher spec models
pete

On Mon, 4 Aug 2003 11:34:01 +0100, "Tom Bennett"
wrote:

"Les & Claire" wrote .. I've seen a few
portable ones in the last insurance office I worked in but I had to
explain
about legionaries disease as they were just recycling the same old water
condensed out of the room with no anti bacterial additives or cleaning
regime at all.... 200 people on the phones in one room with two paltry
little virus spreaders... scary stuff!

Added to which these things try to defy the laws of physics in that, being a
closed system, they can't possibly do what they're being advertised to do .

I've had a few arguments with people who've used these that *unless* there
is a vent to take the hot exhaust air outside, the machines just add to the
overall temperature in the room that they're supposedly keeping cool. Most
of the "portable" (freestanding) units don't have this: they blow cool air
out of the front (giving the illusion of cooling the room) - and hot air
(i.e. the heat taken from the air + the heat caused by the machine
operating) out of the back, thus adding to the overall heat in the room.

- Tom.

Proper portable ac units using refrigerants need the hot air vented to
the outside.

We don't have the window mounted versions in this country so common in
the US

The sort of air cooler that blows across water and evaporates it does
actually cool the air down, as the heat is used up as latent heat to
cause the evaporation.

However, I have experience of the water evaporator coolers and
unsurprisingly, they also increase the humidity so the cooling effect
probably remains about the same - IOW, they're useless.

JPG

On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 08:26:30 GMT, (P) wrote:

On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 08:58:22 +0100, rnet[dot]co[dot]uk
(Simon Gardner) wrote:

Here in north texas, it's been flickering around 98 - 102 F

Could you translate that, please?

Hot

Richard Webb

In message , Ian writes

[snip]

Here in north texas, it's been flickering around 98 - 102 F, fairly
normal for July, and a distinct lack of rainfall. Air conditioning
units and lawn sprinklers all going like crazy!

Ever though of solar-powered AC? Save the pollution etc. May even reduce
global warming, you never know :-)
--
Tim

In article ,
Les & Claire writes:
No, air con is not the norm in the UK. Some of the larger shops use
it. and a few of the corporate buildings. More prevalent in the
commercial sector. But my partner works for the local council here in
Folkestone, Kent and the original open plan building with good airflow
has been divided up into little rooms and departments. The heat is
stifling in there.... hot enough to lose staff. (One girl stayed 2 days
and left 'cos of the heat) They have no air con whatsoever. Open a
window, loosen your tie... use a desk fan......but air con? No
chance......

Probably best to become a computer engineer. Though PCs don't need air
conditioning, most computer servers seem to.

As for private homes, it's very very scarce. Central heating not
standard yet even....

I would have thought that by now at least 80% of homes had central
heating.
--
John Hall

"Take the tone of the company you are in."
The Earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773)

In uk.sci.weather on Mon, 4 Aug 2003 at 17:35:05, Dave Ludlow wrote :

It's well worth having it as I can direct the airflow towards me if I
want, which feels (probably is) even cooler. Humidity is definitely
lowered, too. I wouldn't have been working this afternoon without it
as the inside temperature with computers on and windows open would
have been over 30C, too hot for me to concentrate.

Alternatively, you could try hanging around in each a/c'd shop until
they throw you out...

Yep. The office I worked in way back in July/Aug 1976 had two big
freestanding a/c units and it was sheer luxury back then but much
more common these days I feel.

I was in junior school then, and all we got was a free ice-cream.
--
Paul Hyett, Cheltenham, England

wrote, suggestively:

: [snip]
:
: Ever thought of solar-powered AC? Save the pollution etc. May even reduce
: global warming, you never know :-)

Yes, many, many times , given the strength and unbroken hours of
sunlight here! All that free energy hammering down and going to
waste makes me grind me dentures.
But .... I gather it would be phenomenally expensive to buy and have
installed. Sure, it would pay for itself over nn years with reduced
electricity bills.... but
supposing one moved, or kicked the bucket before then?

I'm not particularly environment-conscious and have yet to hug a
tree, but the air pollution in this part of the world is just
terrible. They now issue warnings on the weather forecasts, Orange is
bad for chest condition sufferers, Red is bad for everyone so stay
indoors if you can, and
Purple (thank God, not yet heard) presumably means time to find an
oxygen mask.
I suspect most of the pollution is due to vehicle exhaust fumes, but
a universal switch to solar panels for domestic and industry cooling
undoubtedly would make a big difference.
--
Ian Ft Worth, TX, USA
(cough, cough, hawk, spit)
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