According to a recent survey, air conditioning is the in-car feature topping the most-wanted list of motorists around the UK, despite the country’s unreliable climate.
The figures emanate from a report put together by ExchangeandMart.co.uk and suggests that a mammoth 81% of people class air-con as essential and would name it as a decisive factor when purchasing a new car.
In contrast, 67% said a TV or DVD player for passengers isn’t important at all and 58% say the same about sub woofers.
Commenting on the poll, Michael Tang, Marketing Communications Manager at Exchange and Mart, said: “Our survey shows that motorists value practical features the most. When we asked respondents to name the essential items, air conditioning was the clear winner with 81% agreeing, followed by alarms and immobilisers with 68%. In contrast, TV/DVD players and sub woofers were only crucial to 9%.”
In Europe, air conditioning in vehicles is exhibiting the biggest growth, over the last 10 years going from close to zero to a 95 per cent prevalence. Does that mean the other 5% are left pointing fans at themselves or other types of portable air conditioning?
A/C does, of course, slightly add to fuel consumption though having the windows open would also increase wind resistance which can add up to 10% to your fuel consumption, especially at speed.
Air conditioning, as we know, has become essential in numerous environments around the world and in other places, it’s merely an aesthetic addition to place that is – well – cool enough.
But in America, needless air con use is becoming a bit of an issue where air conditioning guzzles 15% of total American energy consumption, higher than any other country, using the same amount of fossil fuel as the whole of Africa employs for all its energy needs.
While British air conditioning is a much smaller scale due to temperature and the fact that it’s generally a not such a societal “must-have”, its use is still set to grow by 50% over the next 20 years, according to the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE).
“Air conditioning’s environmental damage is not limited to emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting chemicals,” says writer Stan Cox, whose book Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World is generating a buzz in America. “Lavish deployment of indoor climate control may indeed make it possible for us to live anywhere on the planet, but is that wise?”
“It’s a subject which people haven’t thought about for a long time. When you look at the technologies that have changed our world over 50 years, like cars, and computers, and TV, we have debated their costs and benefits. But air conditioning has been humming in the background the whole time.”
As far as the UK is concerned, “The air conditioning service industry uses an equation developed in the 1960s,” says Fergus Nicol, deputy director of the low energy architecture research unit at London Metropolitan University. “It allows engineers to calculate the required temperature for air conditioning by inputting data concerning the size of a building, what clothes the engineers expect people to be wearing, and so on. But we’ve done research by asking people inside buildings what they feel. And what we’ve found is, people generally adapt to the conditions they are put in without the need for cooling. They can change what they are wearing, for example. It might sound obvious, but it is not factored into engineers’ thinking.”
It may be one of the world’s most iconic underground rail systems but it’s been living in the dark ages compared to some similar subway systems across the world – until now.
It’s taken 40 years to match the New York subway network but finally, the London Tube is now fitted with air conditioning.
Last week, the first London Underground service took off with a cool breeze sweeping through the carriage to the relief of thousands of commuters who have complained of stuffy, uncomfortable temperatures during busy times when bodies are pressed up against others in rush hour.
In fact, many commuters have spoken of the ‘unbearably hot’ conditions during the summer months thanks to the deep lines and lack of ventilation; emphasised by the roaring temperatures in 2006 which reached as high as 47 degrees Celsius (116 degrees Fahrenheit).
The new air conditioning service will be present on 40% of the network but there are still grumbles about some deep-lying stations which are still without air con.
“Air-conditioning for the deep-lying lines is a long-term project,” said a Transport for London spokeswoman.
“We are improving conditions on Victoria line trains but there is a lack of space for air-conditioning units on these deep-lying lines. We are looking at various solutions but you have to remember we are dealing with infrastructure which is very old.”
New York’s subway system introduced its first air-conditioned carriages in 1967.
Winter is just a couple of months away and already, we’re preparing for another cold one. Portable air conditioning devices will be safely stowed away for the next holiday or British two-week summer as we prepare for the frosty season…
So What Can You Do?
a) Sit at home all day drapped in an electric blanket with your feet soaking in a pool of boiling water (please don’t try this at home).
or
b) Take heed of some of our ideas for slightly more interesting approaches keeping warm this winter.
1) Take a Trip to the Hottest Place on Earth
No, it’s not Elle MacPherson in a hot tub after eating a curry. Erta Ale is the most active volcano in Ethiopia and is officially the hottest natural place on Earth! At a whopping 1250°C , it’s one of the few volcanoes on the Planet that have a persistent lava lake, anyone fancy a dip?
2) Holiday to ‘Hell’
Yowzer, named by locals as “The Door to Hell”, Darvas in Turkmenistan might not be the first place you’d choose for a holiday but it’d certainly be a hot one!
Found by a team of geologists 35 years ago, they unexpectedly landed upon this huge underground cavern filled with gas. They ignited it so no poisonous fumes would come out and like a level from Bowser’s Castle it has been burning ever since!
If travelling isn’t your thing then why not get you hands on some of these creative creatures. The Bombardier Beetle can blast boiling liquid at it’s enemies. It’s abdomen contains two reactant chemical compounds in separate reservoirs, when mixed it creates a fiery blast. Each time it does this it shoots 100 times very rapidly. The damage caused can be fatal to attacking insects and small creatures, and is painful to human skin. We reckon that with a little training they could keep you warm throughout the winter (if you don’t mind the occasional scald mark!).
4) Feeling Chilly, Eat Some Chilli!
Here’s probably the most sadistic of our sizzling suggestions. The hottest chilli on the planet is The Dorset Naga, 10x hotter than the Habanero the Dorset Naga packs a punch that makes Mike Tyson look weaker than a wet paper bag.
The world hottest curry comes in the form of “The Bombay Burner” a curry so hot it requires diners to sign a disclaimer before attempting to eat it.
5) Enter The World Sauna Championship
Picture this, you’re at home snuggled up on the sofa watching the latest episode of ‘The Darling Buds of May’, when all of a sudden you have an epiphany, you consider what life would be like scrunched up against some sweaty Scandinavian men in the worlds hottest sauna, and if only you could win a giant hairbrush in the process. Well if this sounds like fun to you then ‘The World Sauna Championship’ is right up you alley, 110 degrees Celsius, the longer you last the closer you get to winning the coveted hairbrush. (I might stay at home today!)
6) On The Subject of Saunas
We are always fascinated to see how our friends in the far east can turn pretty much anything into an outlandish prank, well believe it or not they’ve done it again! This one might put you off going to a mountain top Sauna ever again! (2:30 onwards is amazing!)
7) Beat T-Shirt Man at His Own Game
The Health Service recommend to layer up in the winter so we and 11 million other people found this! It’s T-Shirt Man, the world record holder for the number of T-Shirts worn. 155 T-Shirts, 4 hours and 100 pounds gained in weight!
8) Another World Record to Get you Sweating.
It’s everyones favorite speed clapper Kent “Toast” French, some people dedicate their lives to doing good, some dedicate it to clapping…
9) If All The Above Fail…
We’ve come to the end of our journey, we hope that our suggestions have ensured you a long warm winter. If you still find yourself lacking significant warmth then we have one final suggestion… weighing in 10,000 Kelvin (that’s science talk for very hot!) it’s a nuclear blast! It might cause the destruction of a nation (and a few of it’s neighbors) but for that nanosecond of being toasty warm isn’t it worth it?
