It gets pretty hot here in South Australia. I believe the nearest comparison in terms of the USA is Arizona. I’ve seen temperatures at my block out in the boonies reach 47C (nearly 117F) in the shade and 40 degrees (104F) is pretty common – further into the outback, it can get even hotter. 
    
As the saying probably goes in Arizona, “at least it’s a dry heat”. 
   
During the height of summer, the streets of our towns and cities are comparatively empty as people, animals and even insects try to escape the heat. The drone of air-conditioners is a common sound. It’s a sound that often goes on deep into the night and some never seem to turn them off.
     
Air conditioners were very much a luxury when I was a kid. I remember on one extreme night, having to sleep outside on the lawn. Now than 90% of South Australian homes now have air conditioning.
    
South Australia has the highest annual growth rate of maximum electricity demand across the five regions of Australia’s national electricity market (NEM), mainly due to air-conditioners. An incredible amount of infrastructure is required just to power these appliances.
   
During heatwaves, the pool price of wholesale electricity is an incredible $12,500 a megawatt hour, compared with the average price of $50 a megawatt hour. 
  
Average daily electricity demand in South Australia is around 1600MW, but during last summer, the maximum demand recorded was 3433MW. 
  
All that electricity has to come from somewhere, and much of it is from the burning of coal. It’s an odd world. Burning coal contributes to our warming climate, so we use air conditioning more, putting more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
  
Given this massive burden on our electricity infrastructure and its contribution to making the planet even hotter, Australia has been tightening up its minimum air conditioning efficiency standards for years and South Australia’s revised Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for air-conditioners took effect on October 1. These standards apply to new air-conditioners, not units currently installed.
     
It’s expected that MEPS will reduce electricity consumption by 10,500 gigawatt hours and slash greenhouse gas emissions by 8.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2025.
    
Aside from these government bans on the sale of inefficient units, I think many of us need to toughen up a little. 
    
There are plenty of ways to help keep cooler indoors without using so much electricity and water that are not only more environmentally friendly, but can save people money too. Even bumping up thermostats a degree or two can save a great deal of energy and bucks. I’m not suggesting we all sit in puddles of sweat, but to recognise perfect climate control 24/7 is just a luxury our planet cannot afford. 
   
This is Australia. It gets hot. It’s going to get hotter. We’d best get used to it.