Why no central AC in most Puerto Rico homes? (condo, hotel)
U.S. TerritoriesPuerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, etc.
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Homes are made of cement, plus reliance on imported oil for electricity generation, coupled with a crumbling economy, and corruption/incompetence in the utility companies. All this equals outrageous electricity costs, even for island economy standards. That's it folks, occam's razor. Nothing more nothing less. Next.
another note, most houses in the U.S. especially all the modern ones have central air because the furnace to keep the houses warm during winter is central and the A/C is connected to the central furnace because it makes logic and is more efficient and you get better distribution of warm and cold air during winter and summer and keeping the house warm during winter is not an option unless you are running a Butcher's shop.
Puerto Rico is a tropical island, so they don't install furnaces in the houses because they don't need it, so to save money during construction they don't install a central air and duct system just for a/c unless the owner demands it and pays for it and its more expensive to install because the houses in P.R. are made of cement which anybody knows the process of installing a duct system and vents in cement houses is longer and more expensive. The majority of the houses in Puerto Rico don't have a basement or an attic to install a furnace/central air system to be efficient like the houses in the U.S.
Then you have the energy cost, cement houses in hot tropical weather takes more energy to cool down and keep at a constant temp., add that the electricity in P.R. is expensive that only the upper class can afford central air in their custom homes.
The same reason why most homes in New York, Washington, DC, Boston, etc. have no central AC in their inner city homes.
A lot of the houses are old, so they were built before central AC was popular and it's cheaper to install a window AC than to rebuild the whole house. Newer houses to have central AC's, but they cost more.
When we lived in Puerto Rico at Fort Brooke (inside El Morro Fortress) from 1950-1954, we lived in two story cement military quarters with no A/C.
When we lived in old brick military quarters at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio from 1946-48, we had no A/C, and the same while living in flimsy wooden WWII barracks at Camp Hood (Fort Hood) - 1948-49. Just had floor & table fans which sufficed to keep us relatively comfortable.
Since moving to Austin in 1959, my domiciles have always had central A/C. Kinda nice, IMO, and I'd prefer not to go back to no A/C.
Google is an amazing thing - this is the first aerial photo I've ever seen showing most of the US military quarters in Fort Brooke before they were demolished after it was deactivated in 1966... and the National Park service took the place over. I can see our old quarters on the center left, and fondly remember playing all over the ancient (to me) fortress as a kid. Also remember sitting on the walls of the fort watching that dredge do its work, deepening the channel into the bay. The little brown patches in the "lawn" areas were the sand "greens" for the post's 9 hole golf course. One of the holes was in the El Morro moat - golfers had to make their drive from a tee on one side of the entrance bridge, over the bridge and onto a sand "green" in the moat that wasn't visible. My older brother made a Hole-In-One there in 1952.
If you look at modern photos of the old fortress grounds, the swimming pool in the center is long gone, but the little old Spanish "block" building we used as a bath house is still there. The 2 story bright white building just above the pool was the Officer's Club, now long gone too, as are all the buildings at the center left that had been erected by the US Army after the War with Spain in 1898.
Most people on this planet live without air conditioners. Not just in poor countries , but in highly advanced countries in Europe too.
Having 24 Hour air conditioning is a gringo thing. Its a massive waste of energy and contributes to air pollution. . During the Summer Puerto Rico has high humidity and its hot, but at night it cools down, more so in the mountains. Nonetheless the rare nights when air conditioners are needed caN also be alleviated by a good fan. Electricity costs are also very high.
Ironically air conditioners run full blast in housing projects 24/7. Maybe because they don't pay electricity.
My sister rented a nice apartment in the Ipanema neigbhorhood of Rio de Janeiro (well off neighborhood, tourist area) during the summer. It's typically hot and humid all summer there
--high 80s during the day and low to mid 70s for lows. Even in the well off areas like Ipanema, most people don't have air conditioning.
The same reason why most homes in New York, Washington, DC, Boston, etc. have no central AC in their inner city homes.
A lot of the houses are old, so they were built before central AC was popular and it's cheaper to install a window AC than to rebuild the whole house. Newer houses to have central AC's, but they cost more.
if you have a forced-air furnace, you already have ductwork installed that may be suitable for cooling purposes. In many cases, a central A/C system can be connected to existing ducts without additions. 90% of the modern homes in in the U.S. have central heating and a/c....this is the best option for winter and summer.
Window units address comfort issues in single rooms or small enclosed areas only. In the midst of a hot, mid-Atlantic summer or Puerto Rico hot and humid climate , residents find themselves increasingly restricted to these “islands” of coolness while the rest of the uncooled house remains stuck in the uncomfortable zone.
Cooling individual rooms with multiple window units is more energy-expensive than running a single central air conditioner, particularly when you consider the substantial advances in efficiency available from new central systems today.
Aesthetics is another a drawback of window units. They’re bulky, block the outdoor view and reduce available light. Living with a noisy compressor and fan mounted in a window unit only a few feet from where you’re sitting or sleeping is never as quiet as a central system, where the loud components are exiled to remote locations like the attic and backyard.
Central A/C is more efficient and the best option if you have forced-air Furnace which most modern houses in the U.S. have. You rather have 1 of these that is more efficient.
than to have multiple of these in multiple rooms. Personally it doesn't look nice and blocks the view of the windows and natural light and is not efficient in today's technology.
if you have a forced-air furnace, you already have ductwork installed that may be suitable for cooling purposes. In many cases, a central A/C system can be connected to existing ducts without additions. 90% of the modern homes in in the U.S. have central heating and a/c....this is the best option for winter and summer.
Window units address comfort issues in single rooms or small enclosed areas only. In the midst of a hot, mid-Atlantic summer or Puerto Rico hot and humid climate , residents find themselves increasingly restricted to these “islands” of coolness while the rest of the uncooled house remains stuck in the uncomfortable zone.
Cooling individual rooms with multiple window units is more energy-expensive than running a single central air conditioner, particularly when you consider the substantial advances in efficiency available from new central systems today.
Aesthetics is another a drawback of window units. They’re bulky, block the outdoor view and reduce available light. Living with a noisy compressor and fan mounted in a window unit only a few feet from where you’re sitting or sleeping is never as quiet as a central system, where the loud components are exiled to remote locations like the attic and backyard.
Central A/C is more efficient and the best option if you have forced-air Furnace which most modern houses in the U.S. have. You rather have 1 of these that is more efficient.
than to have multiple of these in multiple rooms. Personally it doesn't look nice and blocks the view of the windows and natural light and is not efficient in today's technology.
One thing I don't understand is why are mini split ductless units so expensive in the US compared to other countries. In fact almost twice as expensive that is not even including the professional installation costs. Samething with tankless water heaters.
Those ductless mini split units are great for those more historic cities with older buildings such as Boston and NYC that do not have forced air heat ducts as these are much quieter than window units and they do not take up a window nor do they need to be removed every winter. And they often double as a heating unit as well which can be a blessing if the room is inadequately heated or should the main heating unit fail for any reason.
Most urban areas don't have the need because of shared housing. Places in the sub-tropics don't have it because the people are used to it. I have been to Thailand while it is hot and humid for me, I couldn't stand the summer weather as a NYer because I am sweating like rainforest. But folks there are used to it. They're not sweating in that high humidity but I am wetting all my clothes every day there.
Que mucho joden ustedes con los contrayaos aires acondicionados!
Not us - we only had fans.
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