Re: The Physics Behind the Spanish Blackout

On 6/11/2025 12:54 PM, KevinJ93 wrote:

On 6/11/25 7:31 AM, Don Y wrote:
<...>
 >>On 6/11/2025 3:12 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

I think mine is a nominal 1Kw, maybe 1.2, maybe 800 (I don't remember, fine print on the split impossible to read, too far). It is inverter type, so most of the time it is doing 300W.

>
4T is ~14KW.  Not counting the power used by the blower (which is probably
the better part of a KW).

 Are we talking thermal or electrical power?
 I think Carlos was referring to the electrical power input.
 4T is 48,000 BTU/Hr. This is equivalent to 14kW thermal
(3412BTU = 3412W).

Sorry, my bad.  My software tracks "heating" and "cooling" and
only maps that to electric consumption when it has to.  E.g., "Should
I shutter the west facing windows now?  What resulting savings in
heat gain will acrue?"  This only maps to electrical power when
I have to apply refrigeration or heat to alter the thermal
balance.

With a COP of 3 this would require about 4.6kW electrical input

Regardless, it's a considerably larger plant to handle a larger
volume and counter heat infiltration (flat roof -- no attic, lots
of westward glass exposure, brick construction, no ability to segregate
thermal loads, etc.)
We'd need evaporators in virtually every room (ignoring bathrooms)
and likely multiple compressors -- often running concurrently
to deliver the same comfort level throughout the house.
It's a shame that no one does any (serious) below grade construction,
here.  Even homes in the foothills sit *on* the ground, soaking up
all of that solar radiation for ~14 hours/day (the east facing rooms
become noticeably warmer around 8AM and the sun stops heating the west
facing rooms around 6P -- it was 85F at 2A this morning; we'll see 110F
on both days this weekend)
The brick construction means once the house structure gets warm, it
continues to heat the interior despite the absence of additional
solar radiation.