Weather Banter - View Single Post

sum1else · August 4th 03, 11:45 AM posted to uk.sci.weather

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
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