> Without drastic improvements in air-conditioners’ efficiency
The biggest gain in air conditioner efficiency is not in the air conditioner itself, but in the housing it is used in. In Asia, lots of housing is built cheaply with terrible insulation, so the air conditioning is burning electricity in waste to cool the great outdoors.
I heard on the radio recently that even though cities have been growing the overall water usage hasn't grown with it. The report attributed it to more efficient toilets. If cities required better insulation would we see a similar effect or are there better things to attack in general?
It makes sense that moving from terrible insulation to decent insulation would be a good move. Do we know how good? Have there been estimates on the savings? How about moving from decent insulation to excellent insulation?
From what I'm seeing, moving from terrible insulation to decent insulation is an excellent idea.
Moving from decent insulation to excellent insulation... maybe not so much. There is a point of diminishing returns where more R values in your insulation does not gain you much.
"Insulation installation which brings a building up to standard can result in a savings of 1—5% of HVAC costs depending on the conditions before the improvements are implemented."
However, if you combine insulation with inspecting ductwork / windows / doors / attics and plugging as many air leaks as practically possible, the estimated savings rate rises considerably. Energystar's site (https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_sealing.hm_impro...) for instance estimates 11% of utility bill savings with a combination of methods.
The biggest gain in air conditioner efficiency is not in the air conditioner itself, but in the housing it is used in. In Asia, lots of housing is built cheaply with terrible insulation, so the air conditioning is burning electricity in waste to cool the great outdoors.