Jakarta's love affair with AC long-term
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Clearly, it is not a mere dalliance.
Last year, residents of Jakarta, Depok, Bekasi and Tangerang purchased 400,000 air-conditioning units for their homes, an increase of 37 percent on 250,000 units the previous year.
In other words, during last year, more than 1,000 air- conditioning home units flew off the shelves every day, not to mention larger units for hotels and office buildings, and smaller units for cars.
"As for the national sales, meaning sales in big cities in Indonesia, the number reached 740,000 home units last year and 461,000 the previous year," Stefanus Indrayana, spokesman for Electronic Marketers Club, told The Jakarta Post.
Indrayana said that the strong growth from 2003 to 2004 was partly due to cheaper units from China flooding the market.
"It was also because residents were able to increase the power supply at their homes easily last year. Now, due to the power supply decline, it would be difficult to do so, I guess," he said.
Nevertheless, growth will remain strong this year because the demand for air-conditioners is always on the increase.
"The cities are getting hotter; thus demand is always strong," Indrayana added.
The love between Jakartans and their cooling machines is growing, but is it a sweet love story or a sinister one?
As the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), which have been proven to deplete the ozone layer, in AC units is now illegal, sinister liaison may be deleted from the options.
But as the energy consumption from the use of ACs is quite high compared to other electronic appliances like TVs or refrigerators, it is premature to suggest it is a sweet liaison.
"A home unit AC usually requires 900 watts. Such power is sufficient for 60 low-energy light bulbs," Igor O'Neill, a campaigner from the energy and natural resources department at the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi), told the Post.
He said that for saving energy, every AC unit had a thermostat that automatically turned off the unit if the temperature had reached a desirable level.
"The thing is, many people in Jakarta leave the AC at a cold setting, while the building not well insulated as they leave doors and windows wide open," he said.
Therefore, the unit would run continuously because the room temperature never actually reached the desired level. That leads to inefficient energy consumption.
Besides being financially costly, such huge consumption also had a negative impact on the climate, one mainfestation of which is "global warming", O'Neill added.
In its website, the Greenpeace organization states that global warming, caused by burning fossil fuels, is the worst environmental problem facing the earth.
"For more than a century, people have relied on fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas for their energy needs. Now, worldwide, people and the environment are experiencing the consequences," the website said.
The consequences, Greenpeace continued, were disastrous -- extreme weather events such as drought and floods, disruption of water supplies, melting Polar regions, rising sea levels, loss of coral reefs and much more.
Green organizations including Greenpeace have pushed governments and corporations worldwide to phase out fossil fuels, embracing clean and sustainable energy solutions like solar, wind, geothermal and microhydro resources.
However, change begins at home. While waiting for governments and businesspeople to take up sustainable energy sources, you can at least attempt not to worsen the situation.
in box: Here some tips to save energy from Walhi:
Take advantage of passive cooling and you can avoid installing an air conditioner: - Plant tall trees to shade your roof from the sun - Ventilate and insulate your ceiling cavity so heat from the roof does not warm the rooms - Build with eaves wide enough to shade outside walls during the heat of the day - Design for natural ventilation to keep air flowing, especially at night -- night breezes will cool the heavy walls and floors, keeping the building cooler until later in the day
If you do decide to install an air conditioner, - Install it on the shady side of the building (or shade the air conditioner itself); and make sure the air flow around it is not obstructed - Set the thermostat of the air conditioner to a cool -- (like 26 degrees Celsius), but not cold temperature. Air conditioners also reduce humidity, which makes your own body's cooling system (perspiration) more effective, so you will feel cooler. Remember, we're living in the tropics - don't dress for a European climate! - Keep windows and doors closed when using an air conditioner - If the machine has adjustable louvers, adjust them towards the ceiling when cooling - Clean the air filter occasionally to keep the unit at peak efficiency
For further information on protecting the climate: www.greenpeace.org www.safeclimate.net www.powerscorecard.org www.walhi.or.id