There are two reasons Why you need air conditioners in Australia. First of all, there is the climate. Then there are your requirements for comfort while you work, play, do nothing, rest, or sleep. An air conditioner is what helps to satisfy those requirements. Whether you are a consumer looking for a suitable air conditioner or a vendor trying to sell one, you need to know something about climate.
The Climate and Air Conditioners
Australia is semi-arid, being 40% desert and this is one big reason why you need air conditioners in Australia. In terms of rainfall, it is next only to Antarctica in dryness.
However, climate does vary from region to region. Generally speaking, the southeast and southwest regions have a temperate climate, while the northern part is tropical.
- The southeastern zone stretches along the coast from Ceduna in the south to Forster in New South Wales. The climate here is known for warm summers and mild winters. Temperatures average 20C annually and show few extremes. Rainfall is also evenly distributed over the seasons but is usually heavier between January and June.
- In the Deserts of Australia, in the central semi-arid region, temperatures range from 18C to 23C in the winter and from 32C to 40C in the summer. Rainfall is low.
- In the northern part of the country, the climate is tropical and very wet. Relative humidity can average 30 percent during the dry season and 70 percent during the wet season. The temperature has an average maximum between 30C and 33C and can fall to 14C in the coolest months (June and July).
What Air Conditioners We Need to be Comfortable
Temperature and humidity may vary from place to place and from season to season, but our requirement for comfort remains nearly constant. This is the rate at which we are able to cool ourselves by means of evaporation of sweat from our skin.
This is not as straightforward as it might seem. It is a subjective feeling that also depends both on the temperature and the rate of evaporation of sweat from our skin. Now this rate is affected by humidity. As humidity increases, it decreases and we feel warmer than a thermometer would otherwise indicate. For example, even if the air temperature is actually 24C we feel like it is 21C when the relative humidity is zero percent. On the other hand, we feel as if it is 27C when the relative humidity is 100 percent!
So comfort is defined by both humidity and temperature. Experts found that, in the summer, when the relative humidity is 30 percent, the comfortable temperature range for a general-purpose space is said to be 24C to 29C. If the relative humidity is 60 percent, the recommended range is 23C to 26C. In the winter, the temperature range is 21C to 26C at a relative humidity of 30 percent, and 20C to 24C at 60 percent relative humidity. Experts recommend different humidity and temperature levels for different spaces.
