This
argument recommends that all citizens of Claria should run
fans as well as
air conditioners, for the purpose of saving money on electricity.To support this
recommendation, the argument''s
proponent points out that Claria citizens who
run only fans incur higher electric
costs than those who run only air conditioners,
and that those who run both incur the lowest electric costs among the three
groups. However, the argument depends on certain dubious assumptions about
climate, electric costs, and the cited statistics. As a result, the
recommendation is
ill-conceived.
First, the argument relies on the assumption that climatic conditions are similar
throughout all
regions of Claria.Yet this is probably not the case, especially since the
passage explicitly characterizes Claria as vast and widely diverse geographically. It is
entirely possible that only fans are used in certain regions because the climate in
these regions is comparatively cold year-round, and that electric heating costs are so
high that they result in the highest overall electric costs in the country. If this is the
case, implementing the proponent''s suggestion would result in higher electric costs
for citizens in these regions. Or perhaps people who run both fans and air conditioners
live in regions where there is less need for artificial cooling.This would explain
why total electric costs in these regions are comparatively low. If this is the case, then
implementing the proponent''s suggestion might still result in higher electric costs
for citizens in other regions.
Secondly, the recommendation depends on the assumption that the cost of electricity
is the same for all three groups. However, it is possible that people who use
both fans and air conditioners incur the lowest total electric costs among the three
groups simply because these people pay the least per unit of electricity.The fact
that Claria is geographically diverse lends support to this notion; people who use
both fans and air conditioners are likely to live in the same climatic region, and
people in the same region are more likely to be subject to the same electricity
usage rates.
Thirdly, the argument provides insufficient information about the study on
which it relies. If the results were based on only one warm season then the argument
would be less persuasive than if the results were based on more than one warm season; in other words, the larger the statistical sample the more reliable
the results.
In conclusion, the recommendation for using both cooling methods is dubious at
best.To bolster it, the argument''s proponent must show that climatic conditions are
similar in all regions.The proponent must also show that rates charged for electricity
are similar in all regions. Finally, in order to better evaluate the extent to which the
cited study supports the recommendation we would need more statistical information
about the study''s time span.
More abstracts about the How to save money on electricity