Contributions to Global Warming

Our school district is keeping all of its schools too cold, by running the air conditioner when it’s not needed. In October, the air outside cools down, making air conditioning unnecessary.

Air conditioners have inside them, a chemical that is easily changed between gas and liquid. This chemical is used to take the heat inside of a home and move it outside. An air conditioner has three main parts: a compressor, a condenser, and an evaporator. The compressor and condenser are normally located on the outside portion of the air conditioner, while the evaporator is on the inside of your house, sometimes as part of a furnace. It’s the pat that heats your house.  The compressor takes the cooling fluid and squeezes it, making the molecules closer together. The closer the molecules are, the higher the energy they have, and the hotter the temperature. The fluid leaves into the condenser, as a high-pressured and heated substance, through a narrow hole.  Once in the condenser, the fluid’s temperature drops, and begins evaporating, into a gas. As it evaporates, it removes heat from the surrounding air. The heat in the air is needed to separate the molecules of the fluid from a liquid into gas. The cooled air leaves the evaporator and starts the process all over.

The longer you run an air conditioner, the more electricity you use. So if an air conditioner is run when there is no need, it is a waste of electricity. Last year, our school district, spent $12,662,114.00 on electricity alone! The average household in 2005, used about 950 kWh (Kilowatt Hours), compared to the 165,204,772 kW (Kilowatts) that our school district used last year. Over a hundred and fifty million kilowatts! A normal light bulb uses only about 80 kilowatts.