{"id":265524,"date":"2023-07-05T13:04:43","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T11:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=265524"},"modified":"2023-07-05T13:04:45","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T11:04:45","slug":"air-conditioning-thank-you-fossil-fuels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=265524","title":{"rendered":"Air Conditioning: Thank You Fossil Fuels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Master Resource<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Robert Bradley Jr.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the time of the year when the climate alarmists are out in force blaming the severity of every heat wave or heat dome on \u2026 man-made global warming<\/a>. I sometimes comment on the dire posts with the simple point: stop whining and turn on the air conditioner or add a mist machine to your most precious outdoor space.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I heard stories from my father about how prior to A\/C, his parents used to buy blocks of ice that were then placed in front of an electric fan to produced conditioned air. Cool!  No whining but action. Adaptation and, going forward, resiliency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was reminded of this when I read a recent recently post<\/a> at LinkedIn by Frederick Ruehr<\/a>, most recently with the Georgetown University Law Center, on seven ways our ancestors coped with the heat of summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The modern air conditioner was invented only in the 1920\u2019s and it didn\u2019t become a common home feature until the latter half of the 20th century. But, while some of us might wonder how our grandparents survived hot and steamy summers, the fact is those older homes had a few tricks up their sleeves. They were designed and built with features to help them stay cool without AC.

Airflow<\/strong>: In northern states, it was common to create a \u201cstack effect\u201d by opening windows in the basement and top floor. This generated a cool breeze through the house. Further south, before AC many homes were built on blocks, allowing breezes to flow underneath and help keep them cool all summer long.

Tall ceilings<\/strong>: Ceilings as high as 10, 12 and even 14 feet were common in older homes. As heat rose to the ceiling, lower areas stayed cool and comfortable. Ceiling fans\u2014powered by electricity or elaborate rope systems\u2014also facilitated air movement.

Transoms<\/strong>: A transom\u2014a small window over a door\u2014allowed warmer air at the ceiling to circulate up to higher floors, providing more air movement throughout the house. Transoms over exterior doors often had hinges and special hardware. This allowed easy access to open and close, helping create airflow while still providing security.

Large windows<\/strong>: Many older and historic homes had large, double-hung windows. Opening the top sash would allow hot air near the ceiling to escape. Opening the bottom sash, especially at night, allowed cool air to flow inside. Rooms had many windows, some as large as doors. Thick, long draperies were often used in these large windows to keep out the heat. People would \u201cdraw the drapes\u201d to help keep a room cool without sacrificing light.

Porches<\/strong>: Wraparound porches offered shade from the direct sun while still allowing light to pour through windows. Screened and furnished sleeping porches were also very common. People would sleep outside to catch the cool breeze of the summer night without all the bugs. Many believed that fresh air had health benefits.

Reflective roofs<\/strong>: Many older homes had light-colored or silver-metal roofs made of lead, tin or copper. This was a great way to reflect heat away from the home to reduce interior temperatures. It\u2019s quite a contrast to today\u2019s dark asphalt shingles that can absorb a lot of the sun\u2019s rays.

Thick walls<\/strong>: If you could afford them, thick brick masonry or stone walls were a great insulator and kept homes cool before AC. Walls 12 to 24 inches thick were common in the Deep South, blocking the heat from the inside as the day wore on, and providing some warmth as the evening chill set in. \u2014 with Eddiee Brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of these seven strategies require(d) wealth. And buying blocks of ice for electric fans wealth. Ice houses themselves were a luxury from affordable energy. And to afford electricity, affordable coal and \u2018white coal\u2019 (hydropower).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Private property rights, voluntary transactions, the rule of law, and government neutrality embedded in a constitutional Republic are behind all of this, which gets to Alex Epstein and Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas<\/a><\/em> (2022), a book that is driving the debate over energy plenty versus energy scarcity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the time of the year when the climate alarmists are out in force blaming the severity of every heat wave or heat dome on \u2026\u00a0man-made global warming. I sometimes comment on the dire posts with the simple point:\u00a0stop whining and turn on the air conditioner or add a mist machine to your most precious outdoor space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":265527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691820794,691818721,691818228],"class_list":{"0":"post-265524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-air-conditioning","9":"tag-climate-alarmists","10":"tag-fossil-fuels","12":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0-Air-Conditioning.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-174E","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":332260,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=332260","url_meta":{"origin":265524,"position":0},"title":"Science of Heat Waves Reveals Blaming CO2 is a Scam!","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"With a disproportionate focus on the greenhouse effect and fossil fuels, most people are totally unaware that the earth\u2019s surface is cooled primarily by convection currents carrying warm buoyant air up and away. Indeed, with water vapor and CO2 making the lower 1000 meters of the atmosphere opaque to most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"CO2\"","block_context":{"text":"CO2","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=co2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/00GPfFxxraIAAjWfB.jpeg?fit=1108%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/00GPfFxxraIAAjWfB.jpeg?fit=1108%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/00GPfFxxraIAAjWfB.jpeg?fit=1108%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/00GPfFxxraIAAjWfB.jpeg?fit=1108%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/00GPfFxxraIAAjWfB.jpeg?fit=1108%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":353854,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=353854","url_meta":{"origin":265524,"position":1},"title":"When Scientists, Skeptics and Eco-Loons All Agree, Except for Catastrophic Storytelling","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"We all agree that the wind-driven surface flow of the Atlantic Multidecadal Overturning Circulation (AMOC) brings precious warmth from the tropics towards the Arctic & enables a milder climate in Europe and North America. We all agree it\u2019s the oceans that tremendously effect climate and create temperature changes that cannot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"arctic temperatures\"","block_context":{"text":"arctic temperatures","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=arctic-temperatures"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0AMOC_Fig_1.jpg?fit=1200%2C707&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0AMOC_Fig_1.jpg?fit=1200%2C707&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0AMOC_Fig_1.jpg?fit=1200%2C707&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0AMOC_Fig_1.jpg?fit=1200%2C707&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0AMOC_Fig_1.jpg?fit=1200%2C707&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":290385,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=290385","url_meta":{"origin":265524,"position":2},"title":"Exposing Manipulative Politicians who Misinform a Gullible Public and Dishonestly Fearmonger a CO2 driven Heat Wave Hoax!!!","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The World Health Organization\u2019s Dr Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum\u2019s recently presented a propaganda video, arguing that due to a supposed climate crisis, the \u201cmost deadly health emergency is extreme heat\u201d. But the data exposes his claims are just a political fear mongering hoax!","rel":"","context":"In \"climate propaganda video\"","block_context":{"text":"climate propaganda video","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-propaganda-video"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0GAtgPvqaoAEXcQo.jpeg?fit=919%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0GAtgPvqaoAEXcQo.jpeg?fit=919%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0GAtgPvqaoAEXcQo.jpeg?fit=919%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0GAtgPvqaoAEXcQo.jpeg?fit=919%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":384348,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=384348","url_meta":{"origin":265524,"position":3},"title":"Oil Companies Sued Over Death of Woman during 2021 Pacific Northwest Heat Wave","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/23\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A review of the marketing of \u201cheat domes\u201d, the history of American heat waves, and the real statistics behind temperature-related deaths.","rel":"","context":"In \"American heat waves\"","block_context":{"text":"American heat waves","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=american-heat-waves"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Screenshot-2025-06-23-084140.png?fit=1041%2C866&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Screenshot-2025-06-23-084140.png?fit=1041%2C866&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Screenshot-2025-06-23-084140.png?fit=1041%2C866&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Screenshot-2025-06-23-084140.png?fit=1041%2C866&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":338077,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=338077","url_meta":{"origin":265524,"position":4},"title":"Climate Scientists Dishonestly Cherry-pick Wildfires to Push a Climate Crisis!","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/31\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Egregious cherry-picking by alarmist climate scientists attempts to delude the public into believing that a slight increase in wildfire burnt acres can be blamed on rising CO2. First, they dishonestly ignore the scientific evidence that far more fires happened before the 1930s when CO2 and global temperatures were much lower\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0ad_213954899.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0ad_213954899.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0ad_213954899.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0ad_213954899.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0ad_213954899.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":362439,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=362439","url_meta":{"origin":265524,"position":5},"title":"Forbes and Frist Are Wrong About Climate Change Harming Human Well-Being","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/16\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent article in Forbes written by Bill Frist, titled \"The Changing Climate Is A Health Crisis: A Call To Action For Human Well-Being,\" makes the oft-repeated claim that climate change is threatening to harm and already actively harming human health. This is false. Many of the conditions Frung claims\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/00medical-marketing-ideas.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/00medical-marketing-ideas.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/00medical-marketing-ideas.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/00medical-marketing-ideas.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/00medical-marketing-ideas.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=265524"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265529,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265524\/revisions\/265529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/265527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=265524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=265524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=265524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}