Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by throw0101c 1299 days ago
So I've just paid money (and probably created a bunch of carbon emissions) to heat my home, and now I'm supposed to throw that money away?
2 comments

Not exactly. What you heat is the inside of your rooms, and a significant part of that heat can be felt as infrared radiation. When you ventilate in a quick and intensive manner, you exchange the air, which becomes cold for a few minutes but you do not cool down the room - because that takes longer. And the cold air has very little mass, so it is easy to re-heat again, and will be warmed by the walls etc.
> […] can be felt as infrared radiation.

Yes, I'm aware of mean radiant temperature:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_radiant_temperature

That doesn't deal with humidity (and other things like pollen in the warmer months).

The energy stored in your walls is much higher than the energy stored in the air. Swapping out all the air for cold one will reduce the total energy stored in your house very little. The walls will reheat the air. Same with letting AC air escape for a minute or two.