raw · notes · ingested 2026-10-27
Future of Cooling
Source: work/inbox/Future Cooling.pdf
Author: r26D, LLC Date: September 2023 Format: Slide deck (28 slides)
“A change of perspective is worth 80 IQ points” — Alan Kay
San Antonio is 10 years hotter
San Antonio is already experiencing the heat the rest of the US will face in 10 years — it’s a leading indicator, not an outlier.
What do we do with all the Lithium Batteries?
Base solution for absorption is lithium bromide — open question: can end-of-life lithium batteries be converted to cooling liquid (LiBr)?
No Compressor = Less Power Usage
Growth of AC:
- Increases peak usage on the power grid
- Absorption allows you to take pressure off the grid
- Possible to run on a generator in blackout
Already Exists — but Wrong Size
Currently used at industrial scale:
- 100–300 tons
- The technology works now
- Need micro-scale absorption chillers (residential/small commercial)
A 1950’s AC tech wouldn’t be confused
The components of Vapor Compression AC haven’t changed significantly. More evolution instead of revolution.
Vapor Compression targets a temperature window
As ambient temperature goes up, the AC is less efficient, runs more, and can’t hit its target.
License Techs — Means Gatekeepers
Refrigerants (HFCs) + High voltage (220V) = gatekeepers (licensed technicians required).
Techs don’t want to deal with heat pumps and mini-split units — even when they are better.
Absorption cooling allows you to skip through those licensing issues.
Fewer Moving Parts
Low pressure liquid pumps and fans are simpler to run than a vapor compression system.
More Heat == More Cooling
This process is about turning heating into cooling — the target is for a hotter world. (Absorption performance improves with higher drive temperatures.)
Heat Kills
Heat is the deadliest natural phenomenon — but it is a neutron bomb. It kills people but leaves buildings intact so it isn’t eligible to be a federal disaster.
Power Outages == Death
As things get hotter, the power draw goes up. When you use AC to avoid wet-bulb temperatures — when you have an outage, it puts lives at risk.
Egyptian Comic about how AC makes Cairo hotter than the desert
Urban heat island effect from AC waste heat makes cities hotter than the surrounding environment.
San Antonio Has a History of AC Innovation
- First hotel and office building AC
- Friedrich Air (San Antonio-based manufacturer)
Ground Temperature Affects Power
Energy-Water Nexus — when water is too hot, it impedes the ability to put energy on the grid. (Power plants need cooling water; hot ambient water reduces generation capacity.)
SA understands long term hot — 75 days over 100°F
This isn’t a desert — it is moist air (high humidity compounds heat stress).
SEER is about compliance not improvement
SEER ratings drive compliance behavior, not genuine efficiency improvement.
AC Units predate the network
Opportunity to connect nodes for better performance (networked/smart cooling).
No Refrigerant
Gets rid of the compliance/environmental issues of dealing with refrigerants — which when they reach end-of-life you have to replace the whole system, not parts — and they are getting less effective.
Opportunities
- Smaller scale — 1–5 ton
- Afterburner — take heat and handle the extremes
- Look at replacing window unit
Not heating and cooling
Heating that becomes cooling (the framing is not a dual-mode heat pump but a heat-to-cold converter).
Wet Bulb Temperature
Wet-bulb temperature is used to calculate the heat index. High wet-bulb temperatures, especially combined with high dry-bulb temperatures, can indicate dangerous heat-and-humidity levels with health implications for humans and animals.
Wet-bulb temperature is a meteorological measurement that accounts for the cooling effect of evaporating water and provides insights into humidity levels and precipitation potential. It’s a crucial parameter for weather forecasting and understanding heat-and-humidity-related phenomena.
Sustainability
Need to measure the impact of production as well as usage in comparison (lifecycle analysis of absorption vs vapor compression).
Idiot Index
The “Idiot Index” (attributed to Elon Musk in his biography; used at SpaceX) calculates how much more costly a finished product is than the cost of its basic materials. If a product had a high idiot index, its cost could be reduced significantly by devising more efficient manufacturing techniques.
What is absorption
(Slide title only — likely a diagram or animation in the original deck.)
Examples of existing products
(Slide title only — likely product photos or a vendor list in the original deck.)
What is vapor compression. Why bad
(Slide title only — likely a diagram comparing vapor compression to absorption in the original deck.)