The Weather in Chennai

It didn't come until after 6.00pm. Then, just as we were "basking' in our AC, and counting our blessings for being able to afford to have and run AC, it went again. We fell to discussing the price of generators!

according to AccuWeather here, the "real feel" temp in Chennai over the weekend will be 117 degrees (F)....toasty!

....with your humidity at 40%.

maybe our heat index does not get to 117 in the summer, but it definitely gets over 100 with high humidity, typical Chicago summer.

any people ask me whether the heat bothers me in Chennai.

It's probably different. For instance, I find the heat more intense in Kerala than I do in Chennai, but the actual temperature is lower. Something about that closer-to-the-equator sunshine?

Come visit in May. Maybe we'll pay a return visit --- and swap climate notes.

I know one thing, though... I am never coming to your city in the winter!

not hot here in May -- today it is a perfectly gorgeous day, high 60s, sunshine. for me, it does not get hot 'til July/August...and even then, 90s and humidity do not bother me. go figure. our "real feel" (heat index they call it) here definitely gets over 100 in the summer.

How much do you pay for electricity in April/May/June?

four to six thousand (for two months)

That's pretty low for Chennai..I was thinking that you would be paying five thousand a month for one A/C alone! (2.5 kw X 12 hours/day X 30 X Rs 5.50 / unit)

The sum is not so simple. our two most-used machines are 1-ton and 2-ton. i think these draw roughly, maximum, 1Kw and 2Kw ... but, as they are thermostat controlled they will only be drawing their maximum current when the compressor is running. Generally, I keep the setting to 26/28: it would cost a lot more on 18/20!

I don't think your A/C will ever be able to cool your hall down to 18 in May. 26 is OK but is 28 comfortable? In Bangalore I always set it to 24 at night and the compressor operates about 15 minutes every hour. Your house must be having better insulation than mine if the compressor had a chance to switch off at 26 with all that humidity.

My bill for electricity topped 5000 rupees EACH MONTH in April and May.

I would find that a bit hard to afford --- at least, it would certainly sting!

For me, 28 is fine, with the AC machine taking the humidity out of the air. My wife prefers it cooler, but then, she grew up being fed up with heat, and I grew up being fed up with the cold!

It actually works out that it is cooler inside our house in the high summer than some other times, because the weather makes us think AC. The thermometer at my desk, just now, reads 26 --- and I don't want to be any colder.

I find a fan adequate in Chennai for most months. Sometimes in summer one wishes there was an AC , but in the last twelve odd years I have managed very well with a fan. Ours is a second floor apartment. Two floors above me !

Someone in office said that one of the freebies promised by the winning party in the recently held election is to give away a AC machine to the citizens of Chennai. Keenly waiting for it.

LOL.

Actually they could do it. The ordinary 1.5T window model costs only 3000/- to make. Almost as cheap as the color TV. The LOL is for the power situation after they do something like this.

It should be adequate. After all three generations ago they didn't have fans too. And according to my greatgrandfather they lived in a paradise then compared to the soul killing materialistic world we occupy. Go figure.

Well the fact is that they can do something about it. With a National power grid and the power trading corp (or something like that) online and several captive projects connected to the grip and pumping in excess power to the grid, there is actually a healthy amount of power available for the right price. The now EX TN govt just didnt want to pay for excess peak time power while still charging user industries even higher peak rates. This is also expected to change :-)