Another Unpleasantness: Air Conditioning
Published at 11:23 on 14 July 2014
I normally work out of my home office, which like the rest of my home, and most homes in Western Washington, does not have A/C.
I didn’t use it when camping, of course. I neither have nor want one of those monster RV’s, nor do I want to confine myself to camping those misnamed RV “parks” that are more like parking lots where RV’s sit cheek-by-jowl.
And, as I wrote before, if I wasn’t engaging in physical activity, the warmth was actually pleasant. It’s great to be completely warm, even in one’s extremities, while being able to wear little or nothing. All that’s needed is to get over any hang-ups one might have about being in some state of undress. So I didn’t use the A/C in my truck on the way back, either. The breeze from the open windows on my bare chest kept me plenty comfortable.
Cut to today, when I have to don a sweatshirt against the assault of overchilled air pouring forth from the registers, and my fingers and feet are still chilly.
Sure, if this were a baking-hot Phoenix day or a steamy, muggy Atlanta one, some A/C would be most welcome. But this is Seattle, the temperature today is forecast to peak only in the mid-80s Fahrehneit, and it’s not even out of the 70s yet.
Natural ventilation would easily suffice, maybe with a dash of artificial cooling later in the afternoon, were this building built for it. And, coupled with a few cultural changes (i.e. loosening “business attire” standards), would be more, not less, comfortable.
Too add insult to injury, as a result of spending the day inside I will now become less acclimated to the heat outside, so the artificially-generated discomfort will not end when I leave the convention center this evening. Not to mention the environmental impact of all this over-cooling.
It’s not just me, either. Others have made similar observations.