Florida v. Bangkok air conditioning

Florida test house for air conditioning studies.

Seeking some comparisons between Bangkok and American cities I came across a collection of studies of typical residential air conditioning use in southern Florida, by Danny Parker and colleagues at Florida Solar Energy Center, probably the best single source that I have found for good contemporary research material available for southern US practices and potentials.

 This particular study focussed on several houses in South Florida, and I set out to compare the A/C use there with my own condo here in Bangkok. The structural properties of the two structures are not vastly different, though the Florida houses have to handle a significant heat load from the roof which does not affect us here in Thailand because we are on the 17th floor of a 23 floor building. On the other hand we get some free cooling from the cool party walls between us and our neighbors, who keep their place cold.

I earlier made some comparison of local cooling demand (based on my own high thermostat set point recommendation) as shown following. 

Cooling degree days per month for one year

Bangkok is clearly the queen of heat and humidity, but similar to Houston later in the summer. Miami comes in at about half the daily demand in late summer. The studies by Parker et al are for a group of single family tract houses with about 1000 square foot air-conditioned area, typically four or more residents, and about twice the air-conditioning capacity (2 to 2.5 ton) as my condo here in Bangkok. The Florida homes air-conditioning power use is typically 15 to 20 kwh per day with interior temperatures of 24 C, very close to Bangkok for air conditioned space in residences here (though I beg to differ).

For comparison I have earlier described our minimal condo use of air conditioning – one 250 ft.² bedroom with night use only at 25C, at an energy price about 10 kwh per day. In the Florida houses the more extensive use and larger area of the houses pushes the energy up to about 20 kwh per day. In both cases, Florida and Bangkok hot-season energy use amounts to about half of the electric bill, with a premium cost in the hot season (Bangkok) at about about ten cents US per kilowatt hour, in the range of about $1-$2 per day. On the other hand some of our well-to-condo neighbors reportedly have hot season electric bills of up to $30 per day because they air condition their spaces (some sun-facing, see previous entries) 24/7! 

Ref: Monitored Energy Use Patterns In Low-Income Housing In A Hot And Humid Climate. Danny S. Parker, Maria D. Mazzara, and John R. Sherwin 

Florida v. Bangkok air conditioning

Florida test house for air conditioning studies.

Seeking some comparisons between Bangkok and American cities I came across a collection of studies of typical residential air conditioning use in southern Florida, by Danny Parker and colleagues at Florida Solar Energy Center, probably the best single source that I have found for good contemporary research material available for southern US practices and potentials.

 This particular study focussed on several houses in South Florida, and I set out to compare the A/C use there with my own condo here in Bangkok. The structural properties of the two structures are not vastly different, though the Florida houses have to handle a significant heat load from the roof which does not affect us here in Thailand because we are on the 17th floor of a 23 floor building. On the other hand we get some free cooling from the cool party walls between us and our neighbors, who keep their place cold.

I earlier made some comparison of local cooling demand (based on my own high thermostat set point recommendation) as shown following. 

Cooling degree days per month for one year

Bangkok is clearly the queen of heat and humidity, but similar to Houston later in the summer. Miami comes in at about half the daily demand in late summer. The studies by Parker et al are for a group of single family tract houses with about 1000 square foot air-conditioned area, typically four or more residents, and about twice the air-conditioning capacity (2 to 2.5 ton) as my condo here in Bangkok. The Florida homes air-conditioning power use is typically 15 to 20 kwh per day with interior temperatures of 24 C, very close to Bangkok for air conditioned space in residences here (though I beg to differ).

For comparison I have earlier described our minimal condo use of air conditioning – one 250 ft.² bedroom with night use only at 25C, at an energy price about 10 kwh per day. In the Florida houses the more extensive use and larger area of the houses pushes the energy up to about 20 kwh per day. In both cases, Florida and Bangkok hot-season energy use amounts to about half of the electric bill, with a premium cost in the hot season (Bangkok) at about about ten cents US per kilowatt hour, in the range of about $1-$2 per day. On the other hand some of our well-to-condo neighbors reportedly have hot season electric bills of up to $30 per day because they air condition their spaces (some sun-facing, see previous entries) 24/7! 

Ref: Monitored Energy Use Patterns In Low-Income Housing In A Hot And Humid Climate. Danny S. Parker, Maria D. Mazzara, and John R. Sherwin