The British seem oddly incompetent when it comes to getting air the right temperature. My office building, not even 30 years old, is routinely too hot or too cold. This despite an external temperature range that is not excessively broad over the course of a year. Tubes are notoriously stuffy. There are brand new buses on the route I take to work and they come with ventilation in the upper deck. Not air conditioning, just powered ventilation. It seems to make no difference whatsoever, except to be really loud. 78 decibels! For no benefit. This would be unacceptable in Germany, but maybe somebody here is proud of this great advancement in bus riding discomfort (there's also a curved rail on the stairs, which makes no sense, but I might save that rant for another post).
Fireplaces are done well here, but anything involving forced air ends up a bit of a crapshoot.
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It seems to not be Just a British phenomenon, but an "Old World" phenomenon. Being in a temperate climate warmed by the Gulf Stream (otherwise you'd be as cold as Labrador Canada), and having the advent of cost effective air conditioning being just 40 years ago with Carrier's invention of the first "modern" commercial & consumer HVAC units (that didn't need ammonia or massive compressors), the Old World has had alot of time and practice with fire places (and 2 small ice ages as well in the last 10,000 years).
While in Amsterdam last week, I saw a great deal of vehicles with forced air (roof vent) cooling, in the city and at the airport. The "4 star" hotel room we stayed in was either freezing cold or uncomfortably warm - yes, there was a thermostat, and it was 'adjustable', but the adjustments didn't DO much, except to go from DEEP FREEZE to FREEZE.
I've seen similar things in France, Northern Italy, Czech, and Romania, in both old and newer structures & vehicles. Germany DOES get it right, more frequently, but in Germany, there's a 'process for everything'.
also... were the 78dB A weighted, or B weighted? A weighted are bad, and can cause damage to human hearing over 70 or 75. B weighted are more benign.
I am curious, does your iPhone have a decibel meter app? If so, very innovative use of the on-board accelerometer!
oops... said "B weighted" .. meant "C weighted". Brain fart. (only 20 dB - lol)
I've upgraded to a better decibel meter so will check frequency weightings. Yes, it's an iPhone app (there are several). But no, does not use accelerometer.
This is specific instance of my broader complaint about British construction: They're seemingly inept at building for their own climate. I've never experienced so many buildings that are, puzzlingly, both drafty and stuffy. I fear that with anthropogenic climate change, the shortcomings will only grow more apparent. And the buildings won't get any better.
I don't mind drafty, but drafty AND stuffy is a terrible combination. But in my house once I got all the windows repaired to function as originally intended, there's pretty much no stuffiness. You can see how this would have worked ok back in the day -- drafty + a working fireplace in each room. But as you fear, *recent* buildings don't seem to be improving.
btw, with the better meter, the bus fan registers between 70-73dB for A & C
I confirmed with Electrical Engineer extraordinaire T.Neitz over breakfast Monday morning in Vegas, that a accelerometer based decibel meter WOULD BE possible, but impractical. The op amp driven traditional sound meter is much more practical. Not sure what I was thinking at the time I posted that last week.
70~73 dB A & C is ridiculous for a public transit system.
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