How Air Conditioning Conquered America
By
Trent Wolbe
Hello and welcome to a special TGIF edition of Harvest-Adjacent-Headlines, articles and media we think you’d like as someone who cares about the nexus of climate and home.
If you’re alive south of the Mason-Dixon line this time of year, you can say with almost 100% certainty that you wouldn’t be there without air conditioning. Since the first industrial air conditioning units were manufactured around a hundred years ago by Carrier, the amount of livable interior acreage in America has expanded massively.
The problem? We might not need to tell you that A/C takes a metric shitload of energy to make happen. We’re lucky to live in an age of hyper-efficient heat pumps (which heat and cool), like those we integrate with Harvest. But how did we get in a situation where we move from air-conditioned box to air-conditioned box for more than half the year?
And what might it all mean for the energy grid’s resilience, or lack thereof? At Harvest we’re working hard to empower and embolden the grid we already have with the magic of thermal storage and smart load shifting. But for now, we’re collectively stressing the grid out massively - and in the near term, it looks like it’ll get worse before it gets better.
Join The Daily for an aural stroll down memory lane, and a trip to the future of comfort. We think you’ll find it hopeful - if just a little uncomfortable.
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