Reducing automotive air-conditioning need!?!

[NASkeet]

Here's the link to an interesting article I chanced upon recently, whilst surfing the Internet:

'Cool' Car Engineers Test Ventilated Seats And Thermal-Acoustic System To Make A/C Energy-Efficient

http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/0901-cool_car.htm

« September 1, 2006 - Engineers at a national lab have shown that small fans embedded in car seats could help cool passengers down -- saving up to 7 percent of the 30 to 40 gallons of gasoline per year an average driver consumes for powering air conditioning systems. »

« The average driver uses 30 gallons to 40 gallons of gasoline each year just running the car's air conditioning. That adds up to seven billion gallons of gas annually. At the Department Of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab, engineers are researching ways to cool the people in the car rather than the entire car. »

« Mechanical engineers at NREL are researching ways to reduce gasoline consumption while increasing passenger comfort. First, solar reflective glass keeps the parked car cooler when passengers first get in. Then, small fans in ventilated seats pull hot air away from the seat's surface. The ventilated seats pull air through your clothing, causing your sweat to evaporate and using the body's natural mechanisms to cool itself. »

« They estimate if all passenger vehicles had ventilated seats alone that would save 7 percent of fuel used for air conditioning. And reducing the amount of fuel used for AC by 7 percent a year would save 522 million gallons of gasoline a year in the United States. »

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Note: This story and accompanying video were originally produced for the American Institute of Physics series Discoveries and Breakthroughs in Science by Ivanhoe Broadcast News

http://www.aip.org/dbis/

« Discoveries and Breakthroughs Inside Science provides twelve 90-second reports (in both English and Spanish) for subscribing local TV newscasts all over the United States. Accurate, scientifically reviewed and reliable, DBIS brings the latest science, engineering, math and technology news to a general audience that is underserved with quality science reporting. »

« Supported by a coalition of scientific and engineering professional societies and a generous contribution from the National Science Foundation, DBIS promotes awareness of and appreciation for the role science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals play in our daily lives. »
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Nigel A. Skeet

Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.

Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper

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http://www.vwt2oc.net

[drscope]

Ok, so I use 40 gallons a year to run the AC. this will save me 7% or 2.8 gallons. Gas is now costing me around $3.75 a gallon. So rounding up to a savings of 3 gallons, this fan in the seat will save me $11.25 a year.

I'm going to have to keep this car a long time to pay for that $700 option.

Wouldn't thier time be better spent trying to figure out how to keep tires inflated? Or how to rid the highways of Escalades with just one occupant?
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Mother Nature is a Mean Evil Bitch!

[NASkeet]

[George Evans]

Another book educated bean counter without common sense.

[ubercrap]

[djkeev]

[hazetguy]

none of my vehicles have air conditioning.
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thebucket: I invested in hoodride, now DBD won't return my call?
hazetguy: invested?
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[melville]

[notchback]

[djkeev]

[Gary]

[Desertbusman]

Reducing automotive air-conditioning need!?!

This Wednesday will probably be our last 100 degree day this year. It will be the 107 day of triple digit this summer. So the need for A/C is over until next April. Although whether we needed it or not very few of our bugs and busses have it anyway. If they did, it wouldn't be something you would want to overload your engine with when it's 110 or 118. On our hottest days there are many traffic problems with stalled cars (new cars- water cooled). The news will report that tow trucks are not available and they are backed up for hours. And then the news advises prevention of stalling by turning off A/C and turning on the heater to pull heat out of the engines.
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71 Superbug
71 Westy

[NASkeet]

[NASkeet]

[thewalrus]

[Jimmy111]

If the car has airbags it has a sensor in the seat that indicates if someone is sitting in it or not. All new cars have sensors mounted in the rims that monitor tire pressuresend it to the main computer in the car. It will be very easy to install a cellular transmitter in the car and report all speeding violations changing lanes without signaling and carpool violations to the police and allow them to shutdown your car if you havent paid tickets or if they are chasing you.
There are congressmen right now lobbying for just this technology to be installed in all new cars.