Think your home heating and cooling expenses are high? Check out some of the stats below on the hottest and coldest places in the country! Also note how two of the biggest buildings in America handle their heating and cooling needs.
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Boeing Plant (no traditional HVAC): Due to the weather in Seattle which seldom peaks over 90° F , the production floor does not have any a/c. The temperature is regulated by two things, the weather outside and the light bulbs. If the factory is too warm they open the factory doors and run fans to blow air into to the factory. And if it gets too cold, they rely on the light bulbs above the production floor. The factory uses over 1 million light bulbs!
Nasa Vehicle Assembly Building (their bills are bigger than yours!): Air Conditioning: 9,070 metric tons (10,000 tons), 125 ventilators. Based on 1,400 watts per ton of cooling & $0.24 per hour – This place costs $2,400 per hour to run cooling.
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re Nasa: $2400/hour for AC? OMG. If they run it 24/7/365 thats more than $21,000,000 a year!
That’s insane.
Yeah…I think it makes for an interesting contrast with the Boeing building that has no traditional HVAC at all. I was actually at the NASA building last week (and in 1979 actually) it’s crazy big.
When I first read that Boeing doesn’t have traditional AC I was a bit shocked. The weather range is a bit wide to not have temperature control. But they must be doing ok with those light bulbs and fans to sustain a production floor of that size.
I was shocked too, frankly. But, I suppose for them it’s more cost effective to use natural airflow in a building that size. It makes me wonder how this approach might save all of us, should our homes be designed with this in mind.
Thanks for comments!
I find the Australian winters to be pretty chilly so this winter I got a new heating system for the house. It made a huge difference.
Eeek. These numbers are so high. There was time when people would drink ice tea, freeze underwear, and find shade to cool off. Today, central air conditioning is something you find in everyones home. The important thing to remember is to optimize your air conditioning system to make it more energy efficient and to keep your home cool.
It makes no sense to me why NASA wouldn’t put the money they are spending towards a renewable energy source like solar to fulfill their heating and cooling needs. They are NASA right?
Scott mentioned that could spend upwards of $21 million per year if they ran it 24/7. They could easily have a solar energy system installed with many additional efficiency upgrades for that type of dough. Our country has to do a better job of embracing and rewarding sustainable energy efforts at the residential and commercial level.
Re: Scott and Benjamin – WOW a potential 21 million dollars a year on heating and cooling? That is a serious number. And yes, investing in some alternative energy sources would be a great thing for them. I don’t know how viable solar is at this time though. But you’re right, if the investment was there, I’m sure they could come up with something!