What’s up with Europeans being against AC ?

[joseline]

i have lived in France for a couple of years and I’ve been to Germany, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. Now in Portugal they like to use AC in public buildings at least but that’s not the case in other EU countries. Specially France.

in France there are no AC in public buildings, public transports and in homes. Even in late model city buses, the drivers just refuse to use them even though the late model buses must have working AC compressors. And I’ve noticed that even in 35 to 40 degrees heat, I notice drivers even in late model cars with their windows down. Even those who drive luxury cars. Range rovers, Mercedes BMW, Audi ECT. Even during heatwaves many drivers in their late model cars drive with their windows down.

and I don’t think it’s only because many people can’t afford AC. It’s just that many people seems to have a weird dislike against the use of AC and would rather be uncomfortable because many Europeans love to play eco warrior.

why are Europeans weird with air conditioning ?

This is a weird thread. You cannot make an assumption about all Europeans based on your individual observations.

That’s the impression I got at least.

So - an assumption.

In my experience, lots of people run ac and have windows open (and yes I know it's crazy). That being said, I am not that keen on AC unless it's really hot, not sure if that's because I am European. I am often freezing in the states when I am in indoors and I hate it. In the car is an exception though as I hate the noise of having windows open on the motorway.

Ok I’ll bite. I live in Portugal and we do have AC in the bedrooms, but we only use it when there’s an extreme heatwave really, and it’s hot at night. We prefer to use the ceiling fans most of the time in the summer.

Apart from it costing basically nothing to run the fans (AC is expensive), you can have the windows open and it’s nicer to feel connected to the actual Summer weather, rather than holing up in a sealed, cold room.

Same often goes in the car - it’s nice to feel the Summer breeze and have the windows open, depending on the time of day and temps. We use the AC more in the car though.

We’re adapted to the heat and don’t need to shut it out all the time. I am glad of the AC in supermarkets and public buildings though, as I’m sure are the people that work there.

Amongst older French and Germans, there’s a belief that drafts of air can make you sick, so air con can make you sick and isn’t preferred. There’s even a name for it in French - courant d’air.

Its a bit dehydrating.

So really you are asking "why are the French weird about air-conditioning?".

Everywhere I've been in southern Europe (where it actually gets really hot) has aircon, especially places like Sicily and southern Portugal.

Most sensible people would prefer to open the windows.

In Italy there are regulations limiting minimum temps for AC. Per Google:

“In Italy, air conditioning in public buildings and some businesses is subject to government regulations, particularly regarding temperature settings, due to energy conservation efforts. Specifically, during the summer months, air conditioning cannot be set lower than 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit) in public buildings. In winter, heating is limited to a maximum of 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit), with a 2-degree leeway. These regulations are part of a broader initiative called "Operation Thermostat" aimed at reducing dependence on Russian gas.”

In our guest room we have a magic remote control for the AC, which displays a temp 5 degrees lower than the machine setting. This is because people tend to set it way lower than it needs to be to get the room to a nice coolness.

Air conditioning cools you in the short term whilst contributing massively to global warming with the . It is the epitome of selfishness. It is like saying fuck you to the environment,

Not much point if it’s hotter outside than it is inside.

Houses in hotter places tend to be built with cooling in mind. In UK we tend to go with insulation instead, as we have colder winters. I feel we should be adopting the siesta for summer though.

Of course there is. It’ was 34° outside here yesterday and 24 in my house with all the doors and windows wide open.

So how is the hot air outside cooling the air inside?

I just open the windows. Not a fan of air con. It gives me a sore throat.

At normal summer temperatures (typically getting up to about 30 degrees), our house stays cool enough with the windows open and the fans on, as long as we manage it with the shutters and curtains as the sun moves around over the day.

In heatwaves, we close everything up until the evening. Don’t tend to need the AC unless it’s one of those heatwaves where it stays at 25 degrees all night and the bedrooms have heated up too much in the day.

From Ovo Energy

Not me I fucking love it. I’m uk though and have it in all bedrooms and living room. I’ve got an ev electricity tariff which makes it even cheaper over night and can see on the app that last few months it’s costing me less than 20p to run the living room one all day as I wfh till about midnight and the 2 bedrooms on all night from about 7pm. Absolute game changer. Why not embrace technology? We are currently in year 3/5 heatwaves predicted

Well Bulgaria has it according to my friend. She's glad as she's going home for a month to stay with family, and it's going to be nearly 40 degrees. She finds it odd it's not a thing here. Theirs is also the heating system.

It doesn’t really, particularly as the UK grid is rapidly decarbonising.

It’s the gas you use in winter to warm your house that’s doing us in.

I’ll give Portugal credit for at least having AC in public.

I don’t like air-con, it makes me thirsty and gives me a sore throat and headache

'It’s just that many people seems to have a weird dislike against the use of AC and would rather be uncomfortable because many Europeans love to play eco warrior.'

Or maybe Europeans are adjusted to the heat, have other ways of coping, don't want to waste money and genuinely care about the environment? Maybe?