why is it easier to heat things up, than it is to cool them down?
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Physically it’s the same: heat travels to cold or cold soaks up heat (positive energy flow vs negative energy flow). The equations are the same.
A key variable in those equations though is the temperature gradient (C). Our technology to cool things is limited to around the point where water freezes, say 50 degrees cooler than whatever we’re trying to cool. Conversely our technology to generate heat easily reaches hundreds of degrees warmer, and with minimal effort thousands of degrees warmer.
The net effect is we can produce 10-100x higher gradient for heating from ambient temperature than cooling from ambient temperature.
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