How to Make Air Conditioning More Energy Efficient

Reader Contribution by Ruth Barton
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According to research, the U.S has used more energy for air conditioning than all other nations combined — vehicle air conditioners in the U.S alone use 7 to 10 billion gallons of gasoline annually. However, demand for air conditioning is dramatically increasing in other warmer regions and it is possible that world consumption of energy for cooling could explode tenfold by 2050, having a major impact on climate change. For instance, China is expected to surpass the U.S as the world’s biggest user of electricity for air conditioning by 2020.

If global consumption for cooling grows as projected, it will have a significant negative impact on the world’s environment. Air conditioning releases poisonous gases in to the environment, thus contributing to global warming and making the climate warmer. Furthermore, the power to run air conditioned consumes fossil fuels, further contributing to global warming. The air conditioning process is a vicious cycle — while we use air conditioning to cool us down, we are contributing to making the world’s climate warmer, meaning that air conditioning continues to be needed with increased demand.

However, although these statistics may seem shocking, there are things that can be done to reduce the impact that air conditioning has on the environment.

Replace Inefficient Air Conditioners

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