this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
632 points (94.5% liked)

Today I Learned

21573 readers
34 users here now

What did you learn today? Share it with us!

We learn something new every day. This is a community dedicated to informing each other and helping to spread knowledge.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must begin with TIL. Linking to a source of info is optional, but highly recommended as it helps to spark discussion.

** Posts must be about an actual fact that you have learned, but it doesn't matter if you learned it today. See Rule 6 for all exceptions.**



Rule 2- Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material.

Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material. You will be warned first, banned second.



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Posts and comments which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding non-TIL posts.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-TIL posts using the [META] tag on your post title.



Rule 7- You can't harass or disturb other members.

If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.

For further explanation, clarification and feedback about this rule, you may follow this link.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.

Unless included in our Whitelist for Bots, your bot will not be allowed to participate in this community. To have your bot whitelisted, please contact the moderators for a short review.



Partnered Communities

You can view our partnered communities list by following this link. To partner with our community and be included, you are free to message the moderators or comment on a pinned post.

Community Moderation

For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, you may comment on the pinned post of the time, or simply shoot a message to the current moderators.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] moitoi@feddit.de 10 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Southern Germany didn't hit 38.

The main reason is how people build houses. In Europe, people use different meterials (bricks, mortar, concrete, etc.) which insulate and put on top insulation. Walls are thicker too. The good insulation keep the heat outside.

The other is the law. Europe has regulations on AC. For example, if I want AC in my house, I must compansate the electricy consumption with renewable.

[–] joel_feila@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Most of the American homes i have lived in are brick homes.

[–] Matt_Shatt@lemm.ee 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Not arguing about which is better but most American brick homes you see are a brick veneer, still renting on plywood, studs, and Sheetrock for the actual wall.

[–] joel_feila@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

So what make a brick home a brick home

[–] Matt_Shatt@lemm.ee 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think most people here are talking about the structure being provided by the brick/blocks. Typically they’re much thicker and heavier and provide structure and some insulation.

[–] joel_feila@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

Well the American style would provide insulation. It is still bricks just with fiberglass insulation and other wall parts

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world -1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

You're part right and part wrong:

While building with different materials DOES change insulation, that doesn't mean it always makes the buildings cooler.

On the contrary, building with bricks, as is standard for all year residential buildings throughout most of Europe is a way to trap and detain heat, NOT a way to keep heat out.

You see, the greatest temperature difficulty before anthropogenic global was the outside being too COLD, so that's what we've been building for and because of that, AC hasn't been as necessary.

Nowadays though, the heat retaining structures with no AC are becoming unbearably hot for much of the year. We desperately need environmentally responsible AC.

[–] Aux@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

That's nonsense. Insulation works both ways. It doesn't differentiate if outside is cold or hot. A well insulated house will keep you warm during winter and cool during summer.

[–] rbhfd@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago (3 children)

My house is very wel insulated. It doesn't take much energy to keep it at a nice temperature in winter.

In summer though, it can get very hot inside. The reason is that I have some fairly large, south facing windows. And once it's hot inside, it's very hard to cool it down again.

I should really invest in some blinds, preferably outside, to keep the sun out during hot days.

But the point is that insulation and keep heat in/out is not perfectly symmetrical.

[–] moitoi@feddit.de 3 points 2 years ago

Without outside blinds, the insulation doesn't work. The windows work as a greenhouse effect and will quickly heat your house.

Then, the insulation will work keeping the heat inside.

I did mention that in Europe, we close our outside blinds during the day.

[–] Aux@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Well, your problem is the sun going through the windows. They completely defeat your house insulation. Yes, you need blinds, they help a lot. Preferably, outside mounted. Like in Southern Europe. If you cannot mount them outside, look for pleated blinds. They not only your room protect from the sun, but also work as an additional insulation layer. You can also close them during winter nights to save a bit of energy.

[–] vashti@feddit.uk 1 points 2 years ago

Mate, you might as well complain your house is too hot because you run the heating all summer. Your insulation is working fine, you're just nerfing it by not keeping the sun out.

[–] hglman@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

It has to be cold inside to begin with. Much of the US has night time lowes over 25 in the summer, with daily averages of 30. So a uncooled home will never be near that. Allg homes should be well insuladed, but just like it would be mad do hgae no heat in much of Europe, its similarity not realistic to have no cooling in much of the us.

https://weatherspark.com/y/8813/Average-Weather-in-Dallas-Texas-United-States-Year-Round