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HVAC solutions
One of my many indulgences is considering house design: in pursuit of easy maintenance for those living there I wonder what can be done with few moving parts. While I like the idea of passive, effectively free, solutions to some issues, given the advances in green energy technologies and my long-term flexibility regarding my abode, it can be useful to assume cheap electrical energy which might, for instance, heat floors by electrical resistance.
A puzzle that troubles me is air conditioning. Running compressors and forcing air through ducting feels maintenance-heavy. Beyond the troublesome problem of bringing cold to a room there is the issue of delivery within the room as we have humidity interacting with temperature. Delivering the cold near the ceiling makes sense for convection as the cool air will fall but a downward-facing delivery surface may drip and an upward-facing surface may form a stagnant pool of dusty liquid: there is a condensation management problem. In my ignorance I wonder what elegant solutions I'm missing. One is instead minded to wonder how far breezes and shade might suffice for making summers livable.
A puzzle that troubles me is air conditioning. Running compressors and forcing air through ducting feels maintenance-heavy. Beyond the troublesome problem of bringing cold to a room there is the issue of delivery within the room as we have humidity interacting with temperature. Delivering the cold near the ceiling makes sense for convection as the cool air will fall but a downward-facing delivery surface may drip and an upward-facing surface may form a stagnant pool of dusty liquid: there is a condensation management problem. In my ignorance I wonder what elegant solutions I'm missing. One is instead minded to wonder how far breezes and shade might suffice for making summers livable.