# Cheap cold air from the atmosphere **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-cold-air-from-the-atmosphere/646226 "2013-01-06T03:50:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-cold-air-from-the-atmosphere/646226/21 "2013-01-07T02:10:29Z")
> [@virtually\_yours](#): > > it indicates I am thinking outside of the box, and have unique ideas..stuff you never heard of before..not tipping my own hat and trying to say this as humbly as possible: that is the stuff geniuses are made of.. This is factually untrue. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-cold-air-from-the-atmosphere/646226/22 "2013-01-07T18:39:31Z")
I had a similar idea about refrigerators. Put a pipe from the refrigerator to outdoors, and if the outdoors air is colder than the air inside the fridge, bring that air in to keep the fridge cold. Of course the pipe would need to have a screen on the end to keep insects/animals out and a valve to cut off the air flow if the cold air isn’t needed. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-cold-air-from-the-atmosphere/646226/23 "2013-01-07T19:34:05Z")
Or you can just use the outdoors as a refrigerator more directly. I always wait for a nice cold day before defrosting my freezer (so I can leave everything outside while I do it), and my grandmother used to store holiday leftovers in the enclosed-porch front room that was always cold that time of year. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-cold-air-from-the-atmosphere/646226/24 "2013-01-07T20:10:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Or you can just use the outdoors as a refrigerator more directly. I always wait for a nice cold day before defrosting my freezer (so I can leave everything outside while I do it), and my grandmother used to store holiday leftovers in the enclosed-porch front room that was always cold that time of year. Yup. My attached garage makes a damn fine walk-out refrigerator if the outside temp is below 20 degrees. It becomes a walk-out deep freeze if the outside temp is below -10 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-cold-air-from-the-atmosphere/646226/25 "2013-01-07T20:11:59Z")
> [@virtually\_yours](#): > > No not high just thinking high..altitude that is.. I have seen the high altitude tethered surveillance balloons and wonder if they could have used a hollow tube attached to the side of the tether and using vacuum suck down the cold air.. as someone mentioned they use the sea for something to this effect and the ground, so why not the air.. there are mountains and tall buildings to fly around or over and also no fly zones.. ie military etc.. and even the existing high balloons have to be navigated around.. > lots of ideas were laughed at and later turned out to be great inventions and helped out the world tremendously.. I take your comment as a great compliment.. it indicates I am thinking outside of the box, and have unique ideas..stuff you never heard of before..not tipping my own hat and trying to say this as humbly as possible: that is the stuff geniuses are made of.. thank you so much.. > virtually yours, > virtually yours Yes, a number of crackpot notions were later hailed as genius ideas. An _immense_ number, though, just stayed as crackpot notions. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-cold-air-from-the-atmosphere/646226/26 "2013-01-07T21:19:07Z")
> [@figure9](#): > > The air would have to increase in pressure as it was forced towards the surface. Compression would cause it to heat up. This. Most of the reason air is colder at altitude is due to adiabatic cooling as the pressure drops. In the summer, the warm ground heats the air, and there is a layer a few hundred feet thick that is significantly warmer than the adiabatic lapse rate. This is unstable, and gives rise to thermals, cumulus clouds, thunderstorms. After a clear night, the ground can cool the air near the ground to well below the adiabatic lapse rate, creating an inversion that makes things uber stable, and traps pollutants near the ground. ---
**Author:** ![virtually\_yours](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@virtually\_yours](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/virtually_yours)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-cold-air-from-the-atmosphere/646226/27 "2013-01-09T04:09:53Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > This is factually untrue. lol that’s funny.. is that general or only where I’m concerned? 😕 virtually yours ---
**Author:** ![virtually\_yours](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@virtually\_yours](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/virtually_yours)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-cold-air-from-the-atmosphere/646226/28 "2013-01-09T04:17:04Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > This. Most of the reason air is colder at altitude is due to adiabatic cooling as the pressure drops. > In the summer, the warm ground heats the air, and there is a layer a few hundred feet thick that is significantly warmer than the adiabatic lapse rate. This is unstable, and gives rise to thermals, cumulus clouds, thunderstorms. After a clear night, the ground can cool the air near the ground to well below the adiabatic lapse rate, creating an inversion that makes things uber stable, and traps pollutants near the ground. That’s only up to a certain altitude .. beyond that it will cool at the usual 4.7 (ratio) per 1000 ft. the air up higher would be too thin to get warm. no? virtually yours ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-cold-air-from-the-atmosphere/646226/29 "2013-01-09T04:36:16Z")
It’d probably be easier to stick turbines on blimps to take advantage of high altitude winds and use the electricity to run the AC. I remember seeing designs for those a long time ago, dunno if they ever made one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-cold-air-from-the-atmosphere/646226.md?page=1)