how to add and how to subtract

My only research today was conversations about various matters of physics, astrophysics, and statistics with Dan Maoz (TAU), as we hiked near the Red Sea. He recommended these three papers on how to add and how to subtract astronomical images. I haven't read them yet, but as my loyal reader knows, the word “optimal” is a red flag for me, as in I'm-a-bull-in-a-bull-ring type of red flag. (Spoiler alert: The bull always loses.)

On the drive home Maoz expressed the extremely strong opinion that dumping a small heat load Q inside a building during the hot summer does not lead to any additional load on that building's air-conditioning system. I spent part of my late evening thinking about whether there are any conceivable assumptions under which this position might be correct. Here's one: The building is so leaky (of air) that the entire interior contents of the building are replaced before the A/C has cooled it by a significant amount. That would work, but it would also be a limit in which A/C doesn't do anything at all, really; that is, in this limit, the interior of the building is the same temperature as the exterior. So I think I concluded that if you have a well-cooled building, if you add heat Q internally, the A/C must do marginal additional work to remove it. One important assumption I am making is the following (and maybe this is why Maoz disagreed): The A/C system is thermostatic and hits its thermostatic limits from time to time. (And that is inconsistent with the ultra-leaky-building idea, above.)