From RMI: Ian McGavisk, Lauren Shwisberg, and Ankit Kalanki
In the United States, ACs are nearly universal — installed in about 90 percent of homes — and their electricity draw is obvious come billing time. In parts of California, ACs can account for 60 percent of peak summer demand in residential buildings. As warming accelerates alongside increased urbanization and population growth, the AC stock in the US is expected to grow to 542 million units by 2050, a 35 percent increase from 2020, putting even more intense pressure on our power systems.
Yet today’s ACs aren’t designed to meet this challenge.