How Can You Lessen The Impact That Your Air Conditioning Unit Has On The Environment?
By :
Harwood ECategoryHomePopularity
Date Published :
2008-07-08 19:25:30
Number Times Read :
15 Word Count: 688
For so many people air conditioning is an essential part of their daily lives. As more and more people inhabit places that previously were considered too harsh to live in the need to cool homes and cars becomes more and more important. As well as being a necessity in many peoples lives air conditioning is ultimately a luxury product for many people, in places where air conditioning never used to be people lived and worked quite happily but over the past few decades we have become more dependent on being in a comfortable environment. But air conditioning comes at a very high price, not only to our pockets but to the environment. Air conditioning is undoubtedly here to stay so what can we do to ensure that we minimize the impact that air conditioning has on our lives and the planet that we live on?
Air conditioning units work by drawing in air and cooling it by means of a refrigerant gas, Freon. Although Freon is totally safe for humans it is a disaster gas as far as the planet is concerned. Freon is one of the major contributory factors to the depletion of the ozone layer. Not only is the Freon gas an issue to the environment but also that the energy that air conditioning units use puts a massive strain on electricity supplies all over the world and as countries such as China become more commercialized and the desire for air conditioning units to be in every Chinese home becomes more urgent then the pressure on the environment will continue to grow.
Because of the impact that the Freon gas in air conditioning units is having on the environment it is being banned from being used in the manufacture of air conditioners in 2010. This at least is a slight bit of good news for the environment but there will still be millions of old and inefficient units cooling homes and cars all over the planet.
As solar power becomes more and more popular and efficient all over the world many more air conditioning units are being fitted with solar panels to lessen the amount of electricity that is being used as well as this it is now possible to purchase natural gas powered air conditioning units which offer a great alternative to electric versions and are much cheaper to run than a conventional electric air conditioning unit.
Using natural gas to power air conditioning units is not a new development, as far back as the 1930's in America many of the air conditioners in use were gas powered but as electricity became more popular and cheaper to provide so people turned away from gas powered units. With the increase in the cost of producing electricity growing by the day as well the impact that producing electricity has on the environment more and more people are looking to replace their old inefficient electric air conditioning unit with a new improved and environmentally friendlier gas powered unit.
Natural gas air conditioning units will undoubtedly lessen the effect that air conditioning units have on our planet but we still all have to do our bit to ensure that the maximum benefit of using gas powered air conditioning units is felt by all. Simple measures such as raising the temperature a degree or two so as to use less energy when cooling the air will make very little if any difference to the way we live and ensuring that we switch our gas powered air conditioning units off when there is nobody at home. What is the point of paying to cool a home when nobody is there?
Hopefully if we all use our gas powered air conditioning units responsibly then the planet can survive this potential disaster and we will be able to continue living the way we do now for many years to come.