It's been HOT on the East Coast - around 100 degrees over the weekend. I just moved into a new apartment, and as usual, have no AC. Unless you're living in a brand new building, paying a pretty penny, or living in an on-campus dorm at MIT, it's pretty rare to have AC in Boston.
Sleeping on Saturday night brought me back to the muggy nights when I lived in tropical, coastal, northeastern Brazil. Stagnant air, and the fan just seeming to push around the stuffiness to no relief. I'd been debating about whether to get an AC unit for my room for these two months. After all, I did survive the year in Brazil without it. But getting up every morning at 7am to commute an hour to New Hampshire for work can be painful after a sleepless night due to heat and humidity.
So I did a little research on energy efficient AC units. First of all, 'vampire drain' is a huge energy cost loss for Americans - in fact, we waste over $3 billion a year on appliances that are plugged in and sucking energy because they are plugged in and not being used. So not only should I unplug an AC unit when not in use, but my fans, computer, TV, and floor lamps. This would save me (on ave.) ~$270/year, energy efficient unit or not.
Second, if I really want to get an AC unit, the energy star certified units apparently save a lot on electricity usage (over 2x a year) and money over time, but they cost a bit more up front depending on the size. The Energy Star website has a lot of resources to help choose the right unit for the area to be cooled, providing better temp & humidity control.
As a 'green' consumer, I think that if this family living in steamy Dallas, Texas can live without AC year round, then I certainly could try harder. And not only me, but the US Department of Energy could get it's act together by investing in some energy star appliances. According to this article, the dept. can start by taking Al Gore's advice and replacing it's light bulbs to become more energy efficient (and save $2.2million/year, enough to light up 3,200 houses!).
BUT there are tradeoffs to walking the talk. I'll likely be moving in a year after grad school, so it's not neccesarily worth investing in a brand new unit which will be used for just 2 months this year, only to be sold or recycled next year. Luckily my neighbor is moving out next week and offered to sell his unit to me for $30, and there are programs to recycle the old unit when I move out next year, if it's no longer working well. In the end, it looks like I'll spring for the used unit, which might use a bit more electricity, but costs less up front.
And in the meantime, energy star AC unit or not, I'll do my best to ward off the 'vampires' by simply unplugging my unused appliances to save some cash and energy this year.
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