Why your air conditioning bill is about to soar - the energy required rises with the SQUARE of the temperature differenc [View all]

Why your air conditioning bill is about to soar , Washington Post, 7/12/24
(no paywall on this MSN-hosted article)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/why-your-air-conditioning-bill-is-about-to-soar/ar-BB1pRxnN

(summarizing, in my words) Air conditioning costs rise with the SQUARE of the difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures. e.g. if the indoor setpoint is 75 degrees, then an increase in outdoor temperature of just 4 degrees, from 96 to 100, increases AC cost 42% !. Just for the heat pump aspect of it. Other factors increase that further.

The math: the difference between 75 degrees and 96 degrees is 21 degrees.
The difference between 75 degrees and 100 degrees is 25 degrees
(25/21)^2 = 1.417 => 41.7% increase

Plus more than half the greenhouse gas consequences (and presumably more than half of the electricity cost) comes from dehumidying, which older AC's don't do efficiently. As if that's bad enough, the inability of older AC's to reduce the humidity enough causes people to lower their thermostats to feel comfortable -- yet even more expense and more greenhouse gas emissions.

(No indication of what an "older" A/C is, but mine is about 1968, yes 56 years old, so I know I qualify. But I live in Minneapolis, so I didn't run it at all last year, and so far haven't come close to feeling the need this year -- a fan works just fine. But just about every time I step outside I hear the neighbors' AC's blasting away).

The refrigerants used in AC's also contribute to global warming (they don't quantify)

Couple this with:

How a small rightward shift in the average daily high temperature produces a huge increase in the frequency of very hot days:
e.g. a 2% increase in the July average daily high in a locale with a July average daily high of 85 degrees (e.g. New York City) produces a 2.44 fold increase (144% increase) in the number of 103+ degree July days.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143266574#post1

Combine the 2 factors above, and one will find a massive increase in electricity bills (and ghg emissions) for a small shift in average temperature. I'm thinking about how to calculate the combined effect.

More on increased frequency of heat waves:

Heat Waves - decade by decade from the 1960's on - 4 bar charts: Heat Wave Frequency, Heat Wave Duration, ...
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127174794