• Decoy321
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    10 months ago

    This funny meme is also a good example of survivorship bias. There are both good and shitty ACs from both eras. We’re just only comparing to the good old ACs because the shitty ones already broke.

    • 𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏
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      3410 months ago

      The same seems to apply for old music as well - only the “good stuff” survives and everything else is forgotten

    • DreamButt
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      2210 months ago

      While I agree with you past generations weren’t swamped with infinite selections of shitty versions of products at their fingertips. Think it feels worse now because it’s harder to find the good stuff these days

      • Altima NEO
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        910 months ago

        It’s had a lot to do with manufacturers trying to cater to a certain price point where they can maximize sales and profits, rather than simply trying to make the best product they can make. It leads to a lot of cheap garbage.

      • Decoy321
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        10 months ago

        That’s a very valid point. Today’s ease of access to a wider variety of sources is vastly different to the pre-internet era of appliance shopping. Back then, we just went to the nearest Sears or some other appliance warehouse to try them out. They’d have just a few different models available, so those were all your options. The other method of purchase was through direct shipping catalogs, where you hoped the product you bought didn’t actually suck.

    • Draconic NEO
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      1410 months ago

      That is true, although earlier generations didn’t have access to as many different variations of a product, most of the ones available to them were the high-end versions. The trade-off is that they costed much more due to being a more premium product and being new on the market.

    • @beefcat@lemmy.world
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      310 months ago

      It’s true with most appliances.

      The problem is it is difficult to know today which appliances will still be functioning in 20 years.

  • @db2@sopuli.xyz
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    15910 months ago

    Air conditioner then: 2 kilowatts / ton

    Air conditioner now: 0.4 kilowatts / ton

    • Throwaway
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      2210 months ago

      Can’t we have like .8 kw / ton thats twice as reliable?

      • @Beetschnapps@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Reliability exists, just don’t buy crap. Invest and reap the efficiency. Personally, I’ve spent years with mini-splits and never had this filter problem crap, everything just works and for less than half the cost.

      • @Tschuuuls@feddit.de
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        29 months ago

        You can have a super efficent one that’s reliable. Not gonna be super cheap, though. But they exist, as server rooms and critical infrastructure has to be cooled as well. Mitsubishi Heavy makes stuff like that for example.

      • @toddestan@lemmy.world
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        1810 months ago

        It’s another one of those weird non-metric units. In the world of air conditioning (or cooling in general), a “ton” is the amount of cooling you’d get from melting a ton (a short ton - that is 2000 pounds) of ice that’s already near its melting point. Air conditioners are usually rated in tons per day, with 1-5 tons about right for a typical apartment or house, depending on things like square footage and climate.

        • @flucksy_bango@lemmy.world
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          410 months ago

          In the world of air conditioning (or cooling in general), a “ton” is the amount of cooling you’d get from melting a ton (a short ton - that is 2000 pounds) of ice that’s already near its melting point.

          I’m the kind of person to argue the merits of the imperial system, and even I think that’s bonkers.

          • @LastYearsPumpkin@feddit.ch
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            210 months ago

            What do you think the metric system is based on? It’s the exact same thing.

            0c is the temperature of water freezing (at sea level, etc.etc.)

            100c is the temperature that water boils.

            1 kilocalorie is the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1kg of water one degree.

            You have to define energy in some way, and almost all of it is related to how it affects water.

            • @uis@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              Calories are not metric. And there are even two calories. Not as bad as 10 different inches, but use Joule(metric unit, Newton*meter) instead.

        • @uis@lemmy.world
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          110 months ago

          It’s another one of those weird non-metric units. In the world of air conditioning (or cooling in general), a “ton” is the amount of cooling you’d get from melting a ton (a short ton - that is 2000 pounds) of ice that’s already near its melting point.

          Wut? I though it was unit of power per mass of machine. Why, just why?

        • @MisterFrog@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          (side note, thank you for the explanation)

          Ffs USA. YOU’RE ALREADY USING kW, JUST GO FULL METRIC ON POWER. Please I’m begging you.

          COP = heat moved / power input

          kW_out / kW_in = dimensionless value

          An air-conditioner with a COP of 2 moves 2 kW of heat for every 1 kW of electrical power you put in.

          This hurts so much to find out because the US is already using BTU/hr 🤢. What do you need yet another unit for power for?

          You’re using W, BTU/hr and ton/day?

          Like. Why are you doing this?

          😭 look what they did to my boy (units)

      • @LordOfTheChia@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        In Air Conditioning a “ton” = 12000BTU of heat removal per hour.

        It comes from the amount of heat removal over a period of 24 hours needed to freeze a ton of water:

        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ton_of_refrigeration

        A quick idea of what cooling/heating you need is your square footage (assuming 8ft ceilings) x 20.

        So 600 sq ft of area would need a 1 ton AC or 12,000BTU. Again complicated by outdoor temperature, insulation of the home, and other factors.

        Anyway, what the op was saying, for the same tonnage (cooling capacity) old ACs used a ton of electricity. Newer split units are crazy efficient.

        Like in 2000 the new requirement for a home AC was a SEER (cooling vs electric usage) of 10. The higher the rating, the less electricity used for a given cooling capacity.

        Nowadays you can get the cheaper split units which have ratings of 19-23 SEER2. So they use half or less than half the electricity for the same cooling. Also they can work as heaters in a pinch.

        Edit: Quick googling shows that ACs from the 80s could be as inefficient as 6-7 SEER. So a modern 21 SEER2 unit would use 1/3rd the electricity!

  • @HellAwaits@lemm.ee
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    7610 months ago

    Never had a split unit fail on me because of dust. IDK where y’all getting your air cooling machines.

    Also, they still sell window units. I know it’s a meme, but come on. Do a little more research.

    • @GBU_28@lemm.ee
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      1710 months ago

      Drain line can clog, but as with all dad stuff, good maintenance wins the day

  • Montagge
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    3810 months ago

    Weird my mini split is a workhorse. It doesn’t give two shits about dust, dirt, ice, rain, or snow. It has heated the house in single digits and cooled the house in triple digits (both F). 10/10. Best $1800 I ever spent.

    • LanternEverywhere
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      1510 months ago

      For real, mini splits are insanely powerful. They’ll make a room frigidly too cold in nanoseconds if you ask them to.

      • @Beetschnapps@lemmy.world
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        310 months ago

        I wouldn’t say nanoseconds… might be my system with multiple units,but one can take a minute to get its bearings. Once on though I really only need one unit for the whole place despite having 3.

      • LucasWaffyWaf
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        710 months ago

        Heck, early refrigeration systems used friggen ammonia as it’s refrigerant of choice. Works good at being compressed and evaporated, shame about it being poison.

  • @EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works
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    2210 months ago

    German here, I don’t get that joke. What the fuck’s an Air Conditioner? Some time of specail air you put in your hair after using shampoo?

    • Nico di Angelo
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      310 months ago

      @EmoDuck @The_Picard_Maneuver
      Don’t many German cars have “airco”? 😅
      Anyway, in rare cases it’s to moisturize the inside air, some are able to heat, but most of them are used to cool down temperatures in a room or building (like in supermarkets in summer) and are a common thing in resident houses in the hotter parts of the world…
      I think it gets its name from being able to condition the air temperature… 😅

        • Nico di Angelo
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          210 months ago

          @JudahBenHur Yeah, by the time I realized it might have been sarcasm, the toot was sent and I was already doing something else… 😅

          Oh, well, somebody’s gotto be the idiot sometimes, might as well be me… 😅😂

          • Ben Hur Horse Race
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            310 months ago

            in middle school I raised my hand and asked why the evaporation from the oceans didnt rain down into freshwater lakes and make them salt water also and I think about that about twice or three times a year, I’m in my 40s

        • JackFrostNCola
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          210 months ago

          To add to this, reverse cycle (aka heat pump) air conditioners will dehumidify the air during cooling operation as humidity in the air tends to condense on the (cold) indoor unit coil and leaves via the drain pipe.
          These air conditioner units usually have the modes; cool, heat, fan only & dehumidify, which is why they arent just called ‘air coolers’ or ‘heaters’.

      • @averyfalken@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        110 months ago

        So on the whole somee are able to heat thing is going to be dependent on where you live, put where I love most heatpumps (air conditioners) that are whole home units or minisplits are reversible heatpump meaning they can both heat and cool

      • @MrShankles@reddthat.com
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        210 months ago

        Thank you so much for that link! It was wildly pertinent to my life

        I just moved into a new place this weekend. It has an addition not connected to central A/C. Instead, it has a little window unit, but also a (one hose) portable unit.

        I was using the portable one, because I haven’t had time to block the hole that runs outside (especially from critters climbing through). So I hoped that the air blowing out would discourage anything from climbing in

        And now I will be taking the time to properly block the hole where the duct runs, because I immediately switched back to the window unit after watching that video

        So thank you again! It’s the first time I ever encountered a portable unit, so I knew nothing. And coincidentally, I just moved and had the option to use either the window unit or the portable

        Just ridiculously relevant to my life as of this weekend! And ya just saved me money on electricity. You’re awesome for that link my friend

    • @NightAuthor@lemmy.world
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      310 months ago

      Some significant amount of the heat that should go outside, instead gets put back into the room through the “clothes dryer vent”.

      Given the cost premium, and space used, by floor standing ACs, they’re really not worth it if you have an option.

    • @beefcat@lemmy.world
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      110 months ago

      Every time I’ve gone to move to a new place, central air has been my top priority. I refused to consider homes that relied on window units, swamp coolers, or those floor units that are basically a scam.

      I live somewhere with cold winters and hot summers though, maybe I would feel different somewhere with more mild seasons.

  • roguetrick
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    1310 months ago

    We missed out on the freon black market that’s consumed by cyborg men in vans.

  • Lifted_lowered
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    1210 months ago

    We need to figure out how to retrofit those old machines to be as efficient as the new ones, and be clean and pigeon free. Then we can keep them around.

  • @Destraight@lemm.ee
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    810 months ago

    Which air conditioner are you talking about specifically that shuts off when it gets dust on its filter?

    • @Lyrl@lemm.ee
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      110 months ago

      It’s not that they shut off, it’s that many units are sized so questionable for the square footage they are able to cool that the filter being dusty or clean is the difference between being able to cool the room to the target temperature or not.

  • @BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world
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    710 months ago

    Yes the older models are the little engine that could. (come to think of it most of you are too young to get that reference). The expensive big one threw a belt and became useless after four years.

    But I moved to a place where I’m on the shady side of the building and as a result all I need are fans.