Should I Feel Guilty About Using My AC?

Air conditioning is one of our guilty great pleasures. When your suffocated city under a 100 -degree heat dome, there is nothing like the sweet relief that has just returned home, get on the AC and leave behind the stifling external atmosphere for the cooler inner atmosphere and more pancake. While the first major heat wave of 2025 baked the northeast, the South and the Midwest, nearly 150 million Americans discover this fact again.

But air conditioning has a high price. The two billion units operating worldwide are 7% responsible for annual greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations Environment program, a figure which should double by 2030 and triple by 2050, when more than five billion units should be used. This will lead to a climatic spiral, with an increase in carbon production pushing even higher overall temperatures, leading to even more air conditioning and even higher and even temperatures.

“Air conditioning becomes a rescue buoy in this overheated world,” explains Ankit Kalanchki, a RMI cooling expert, a group of research and public policy known at the origin of Rocky Mountain Institute. “It is no longer a luxury. We are counting on air conditioning for comfort, feeling productive, feeling safe and healthy, and it is an invisible engine of electricity and emissions. ”

This fact leaves a lot of people to feel guilty of their own use of that. Our grandparents have passed with fans, light clothes, drawn nuances and cold drinks; Even in the face of climate change, could we not do the same for at least routine summer heat?

“The feeling of guilt comes from the sense of responsibility for doing something,” explains Fionnuala Walravens, senior activist of the Environmental Investigation Agency, a group for the defense of the Greens. “We wonder” What can we change? ” »»

Find out more: The most effective way to run your turnover during a heat wave

The guilt of air conditioning is only a piece of the greatest phenomenon of climate guilt, responsibility and even shame that many people feel if they do not recycle perfectly, composting regularly, driving at least and keeping the energy consumption as low as possible. “There are often a lot of emotions that are linked,” explains Wendy Greenspun, a clinical psychologist affiliated with Climate Psychology Alliance North America, an educational non -profit organization. “There is sadness, anger, anxiety, fear – a lot of different emotions that I put under the aegis of climate distress. Guilt can be part of it. “

Manage all these emotions – and take all green measures to improve them – can be a considerable elevator, and almost no one can claim to be a citizen of the perfect climate. But with regard to air conditioning, there are many adaptation measures – the ways to keep your use of cooling in check while accepting that in an increasingly suffocating world, air conditioning is an essential daily.

The most important step – if the most expensive – that you can take to reduce the carbon footprint of your air conditioner is to delete any model that you bought 15 years ago and earlier and to go to a new one. In 2010, the American environmental protection agency (EPA) prohibited the sale of new AC (Central AC or Windows models) which use Freon – also known as R -22 – as a coolant. Freon, which can flee from domestic units and must often be replaced and supplemented by a service person, has a so -called global warming potential (GWP) of almost 2,000 – which means that it contains 2000 times the punch of the planet of an equivalent quantity of carbon dioxide. The new units now use Puron Advance – also known as R -454B – which has a GWP of only 465. It is even more than CO2 (which, by definition, has a GWP of 1), but much less than R -22.

“Industry goes to alternatives that have a much lower environmental imprint,” says Kalanca. “There are a lot of promises with regard to the type of refrigerants who can provide similar cooling without having an impact on performance.”

The elimination of old units is a little more complex than launching them in a city landfill. Many state or local laws require that the refrigerant be first drained by a technician certified by the EPA, after which air conditioning can be recycled or transported by local picking programs by the street.

Kalanterki also recommends buying what are called smart air conditioners, units that connect to WiFi and can monitor energy consumption and be controlled remotely by phone. Smart AC allows you to pre -reflect your home, by turning on the unit when you are lowered to lower the temperature before returning, allowing you to close the CA – or at least to refuse it – before peak use in the evening when the air conditioners fluently operate to their maximum. This can make a big difference in the larger world, because air conditioners currently represent 40% to 60% of peak demand on the grid in summer. Keeping your electricity consumption low during these hours also saves money, as energy companies often invoice more for the energy consumed in this window; Reducing consumption at these times can also help avoid grid accidents or Panus breakdowns.

“An intelligently designed unit,” explains Kalanchki, “can feel and measure the amount of energy load necessary to cool a space. You can really considerably reduce energy consumption. “

Architects and designers of apartments and unified houses also have a role to play. Better insulation, for example, can not only prevent cold in winter, but stay cool during the summer. Shades and awnings to detect the sun can also help, as is the painting of white roofs – instead of the common black tar seen in cities – which reflects the heat and light that black roofs absorb. “There are a multitude of these passive strategies that can be used when the buildings are designed,” explains Kalanchki.

The purchase, rental or renovation of a house with a spirit towards these efficiency, as well as the installation of new improved AC units and heat pumps can not only reduce your carbon load, but reduce your emotional load, which leads to part of the guilt which is accompanied too much power during the summer months when the energy tracks.

Some other simple adaptations can also help you. Companies such as law firms and banks can soften their costume and link rules during the summer, explains Walravens, lightening the office on office air conditioners which must make the environment fresh for people wearing dark layers at three -digit temperatures. Adjusting our own internal thermostats can also help you. In 2022, 88% of American houses had air conditioning, compared to less than 10% of European houses, according to MIT review of MIT technology. And we lead our hard units. An analysis of once from 2022 revealed that American residences are maintained at around 74 ° F even when no one is at home and at 70 ° F when the family returns.

“We have to change our state of mind a bit,” explains Walravens. “The reality is that we can survive and be productive at higher temperatures. It can first seem a little intimidating, but it will use much less energy and cause much less guilt.”