Life is Great!

Let's face the facts... Life can be just great at times! understands the importance of living a balanced life and having right priorities. Therefore, we want you to enjoy reading all the facts and figures we've discovered along the way.

Call us today and ask us, "Hey, what do you all think is so great!?"

Facts and Fun!

1st cooling Some facts are fun and some are just flat-out interesting. Following is a collection of interesting items on air conditioning, power generators, spot coolers, spot cooling, and even chillers!

The Lie: "Leave off your air conditioner and open your windows, and you'll get more MPGs!"

Does using your A/C on hot days actually uses less fuel, because your aerodynamics are better with the windows up?

The Truth: The aerodynamic drag of any vehicle is proportional to the square of its speed. But the fuel consumption is proportional to the cube of its speed. At low speeds around town, the 5 to 8 hp necessary to run the air conditioner will decrease fuel economy measurably, while the small aero drag from opening the windows is negligible. Pull out onto the freeway and increase speed for 35 to 70, and the numbers reverse. Well, actually, the A/C consumes exactly the same amount of power—but the extra fuel required to run with the windows open goes up by a factor of eight.

Either way, when you come back to the car after parking in the sun, open all the windows for a couple of minutes until the sauna inside cools off. That way the A/C won't be working so hard to cool off things initially. After your car's interior is closer to equilibrium with the outdoors, it won't take as much power—or gas—to keep cool.

Some hybrids have very efficient, electrically-powered A/C compressors, and usually have highly optimized aerodynamics. So their low power consumption and higher aero losses, percentage-wise, make the break-even point at a lower speed.

So, how much ice would it take?

For those of you who want a some "free" air conditioning for your home, listen to these facts. We found out how much ice it would take to cool your house for the summer. That's right! What kind of hole in the ground would it take to hold enough ice to cool your house for the entire summer!

First off, you wold need a pretty big hole in the ground. And you would have to install some coiled tubes near the bottom of the hole and a small pump to cycle chilled water between the "ice chest" and your blower/coil in the house.

Here are the general assumptions:

  • The air conditioner runs for 12 hours a day for five months out of the year. (Hey, it's hot in Texas!)
  • The ice and snow stored in the ground is only 40 percent efficient, due to melting and other factors.
  • The house requires 5 tons of air conditioning.
  • Most of the cooling process is produced by the ice melting, as the melting process absorbs much more energy than warming up cold water.

Your house would need the following amount of cooling: 


5 tons x 12,000 BTU/hr/ton x 12 hours/day = 720,000 BTU/day


720,000 BTU/day x 150 days / .4 efficiency = 270,000,000 BTU


270,000,000 BTU x 3.15 grams ice / BTU = 850,500,000 grams ice


850,500,000 grams ice / 454 grams/lb = 187,000,000 lbs ice


187,000,000 lbs ice x .1337 cubic feet/lb = 25,000,000 cubic feet


25,000,000 cubic feet = A cube with 61 feet per side

And there you have it! If you can somehow put a huge hole in your backyard (61 ft x 61 ft x 61 ft) and fill it with ice, then you can cool your house for the entire summer!