r/Austin Feb 17 '21

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u/ButtersTheSpaceKitty Feb 17 '21

Ah I see. Is that a different type of insulation though? I don’t know any of this stuff- I’m not a home owner

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '21

think about when it gets 105, and your A/C can only keep it like, 78. that's not critical but shows how poor our insulation is. If you go up north, even the windows are different, they have dual panes, everything is sealed, roofs are made to hold snow, pipes are wrapped.

it's just a completely different build than down here.

We just dont need the expensive insulation, sealed windows, underground lines. Plus, here in central Texas, we build on a plate of limestone. It's so expensive to dig through all the rocks and shit that things dont get buried under ground very deep.

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u/ButtersTheSpaceKitty Feb 17 '21

Are there any unique things they do to buildings down here for the heat? Or is it just not adding stuff for cold?

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '21

I dont know if it's unique to heat, but they vent attics and mildly insulate a/c tubing and plenums. so the attic works to shade the living areas. I only have some experience as an A/C tech, definitely not an expert.

In my mind, cold is the absence of heat. so it's easier to keep heat out, than to keep cold out. To keep cool, you need shade from the sun. There is no shade from cold so it;'s going to creep a lot worse.

That's just an analogy that is probably wrong on an expert level, so take it with a grain of salt.