Don’t let the above chart fool you, we are energy pigs. I check upstairs before leaving every day and turn out the lights in my kids rooms and all the lights in the bathroom. We have two large freezers besides the fridge/freezer. We never turn computers or X-box all the way off, nor all the chargers or anything.
We do one thing different from most Americans, we don’t use a thermostat. We are like most of the world in that regard. And clothes are dried using the same solar drier in use since the time we humans gave up on leaves and adopted animal skins for clothes.
When I lived in China no one had any heat, even in hotels, at best people would light a charcoal burner inside. I was told the government didn’t allow heat below the Yangtze, I’m not sure if that was true. Nights got down to the 40s, elevations were high at around 5000 feet. It got nippy. With the constant cigarette smoke windows were always open anyway.
In Bangkok daytime heat was oppressive. Work for me was inside an airconditioned classroom, but my houses were traditional, in the early evening the entire country showers, and many go to the market to buy take away. Most also shower in the morning. Fans are everywhere. Upcountry was no different except no classrooms had air conditioning. In Laos I know of no one with air conditioning.
Lately we’ve been experiencing a heat wave. We know because not only is it hot out but it’s hot inside too. Not unbearably hot but it sure isn’t 70. In the winter if we want to get warm we get close to the wood stove.
I can’t imagine most Americans living without air conditioning or central heat all at a steady 70 degrees, and therein lies the problem, not that it’s too hot or cold out, but that for 99% of the time most people don’t even know if it’s hot or cold.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we are in a hot spell here right now, for most people all that means is their electric bill went up a little, maybe if you have to park in the sun you notice. Global warming will affect most American long after heat has caused the deaths of many millions worldwide.
I was reading a comment once about this thing called a “wet bulb temperature” it is like that science experiment from high school where you swing around a thermometer wrapped in a wet cloth. Depending on the humidity your body can only cool itself up to a certain temp, in areas that are both hot and wet, like Bangkok or Bangladesh that temp is not too high over current temps. People will die, lots of people.
So ya, I’m cynical.
I’ve no hope that us developed nations will do much to reduce our energy usage. We are too insulated from the world outside. Oh, we’ll buy groovy new cars with green writ large, but we won’t do any of the things that really matter. Big solar arrays sure, turn off the AC never, fewer highways, smaller houses, less flying, never, never, never.