Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Air Conditioner Use

by Michael Gile

Submitted : Spring 2016

This project sought to ascertain the average amount of CO₂ produced in a 12 month period by an air conditioning unit attached to an average home in Tampa, FL if it was ran at 70°F, 65°F, 60°F, and 55°F, while taking into consideration the monthly variation in outside temperature. Using data about the average high temperatures of Tampa, data about the amount of energy needed to cool a home to a certain degree, and data about the amount of CO₂ produced by levels of electricity consumption, 4 graphs were formed relating the month of the year to the total amount of CO₂ produced by an air conditioner if it was set at the aforementioned temperatures. The function of each graph was then found using a third degree polynomial regression. Each of the functions was plugged into the average value function, in order to determine the average amount of total CO₂ produced by each temperature setting. These values were compared in order to observe the effect that lower air conditioner temperatures have on CO₂ emissions.

            It was found that, on average, an air conditioner in Tampa will produce 0.318 metric tons of CO₂ if set at 70°F, 0.513 metric tons if set at 65°F, 0.656 metric tons if set at 60°F, and 0.774 metric tons if set at 55°F. This data indicated that running an air conditioner at lower temperatures in Tampa will produce more carbon dioxide.

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