Outdoor air conditioning?

[MDJH]

Hearing about the recent heat wave in southern Ontario... one of the more obvious thoughts to come to mind is, "well, they should have stored a lot of spare energy over time so that people could use their air conditioners without causing a power outage."

 

But then I began to think... what if, hypothetically, energy were so abundant that people could afford to air condition the outdoor air, at least within the city limits of major cities like Toronto, so that people could comfortably go outdoors? Would it be a good idea then?

 

The method I imaged was of super-powered air conditioners distributed every few hundred metres or so, in areas that would be fenced off so that people couldn't get TOO close... strong blasts of very cold air (let's say, which goes through some pipe immersed in liquid nitrogen) are shot high into the sky, forcing strong convection currents. This would decrease temperature and/or condense moisture until humidex values plunge, creating a more comfortable environment. Would it work, in that scenario? And what would be the side-effects?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Air conditioners work by extracting heat from the air inside a building and dumping it in the air outside. If you're air-conditioning the outside, where do you put the heat? You can't just make heat vanish.

[AzurePhoenix]

We could just pump a bunch of nice sulfates into the sky

[Mchurd]

Your idea is...not feasible

Do you realize how big the Earth is and your small attempt to change global heating patterns would be laughed upon by the ocean and the atmosphere. If you want to change the environment, climate speaking, you're going to have to tamper with the system that is responsible for the transfer of heat---the ocean.

[Newbies_Kid]

Use the heat to generate electricity is better i think..

[ewmon]

Q: What would we do with all that thermal energy?

 

A: Convert it into electric energy and power a laser shot into the deep void of space.

(However, it would burn a hole in the edge of the universe in about 50 billion years).

[MDJH]

Air conditioners work by extracting heat from the air inside a building and dumping it in the air outside. If you're air-conditioning the outside, where do you put the heat?

... underground? I'm only speaking hypothetically here. o.o

[PaulS1950]

What would happen if you take the heat in the air and pump it into the earth? The ground would warm making more heated air...

Doesn't sound like a good idea does it. How about just cooling the buildings by using the earth as a sink to begin with? Take the warm air, pipe it through an uderground "radiator" where the heat is transfered to the cool earth at four meters deep and then into the building at 55F - 65F degrees.

 

Since we are cooling a smaller space and only part time then the Earth would have time to get rid of the heat it absorbed and during the winter you could use the same system to warm the colder outside temperature to the same 55F - 65F to assist in heating those same buildings further protecting the Earth from becaming "heat soaked".

Edited July 18, 2010 by PaulS1950

[Mr Skeptic]

Your idea is both feasible and has/is already being done -- in a sense. You can't really put an air conditioner outside and expect it to work (they move heat, not make it vanish). However, what you can do is spray lots and lots of water. A ring of misters around the roof of your house. The water evaporates and uses heat from the environment to do so (same system as sweating). This system also has the advantage of using very little energy. Of course you'd have to have something to keep away the "you're using too much water" folks.

[swansont]

Your idea is both feasible and has/is already being done -- in a sense. You can't really put an air conditioner outside and expect it to work (they move heat, not make it vanish). However, what you can do is spray lots and lots of water. A ring of misters around the roof of your house. The water evaporates and uses heat from the environment to do so (same system as sweating). This system also has the advantage of using very little energy. Of course you'd have to have something to keep away the "you're using too much water" folks.

 

This only works in areas of low humidity, like the US southwest. Swamp coolers. Not so effective in the east, where summertime is already a swampy experience. General rule — if your cold drink cans or glasses "sweat" when they sit around, the swamp cooler isn't going to work.

 

http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/472

[Sisyphus]

This only works in areas of low humidity, like the US southwest. Swamp coolers. Not so effective in the east, where summertime is already a swampy experience. General rule — if your cold drink cans or glasses "sweat" when they sit around, the swamp cooler isn't going to work.

 

http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/472

 

Won't it still work some, though, as long as humidity is less than 100%?

[swansont]

Won't it still work some, though, as long as humidity is less than 100%?

 

It should, though the efficiency will drop off rapidly as humidity gets high. If cool things are sweating, then some temperature near or above that represents an equilibrium of condensation and vaporization, where there is no more net cooling. And I get glasses sweating indoors, where the humidity is below 50%.

[J.C.MacSwell]

Won't it still work some, though, as long as humidity is less than 100%?

 

Not as effectively, though I think it can still work well when a cold drink "sweats". A cold drink can still be below the dew point on a hot dry day, can it not?

[swansont]

Not as effectively, though I think it can still work well when a cold drink "sweats". A cold drink can still be below the dew point on a hot dry day, can it not?

 

Yes, but the water will still tend to quickly re-evaporate if the humidity is low, so I would guess that much less water would accumulate.