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 ?

A house with a south facing side will have one that faces north too

My house is back to back with another house so only has a south facing side.

"many Europeans love to play eco warrior"

Many Europeans are really concerned about the environment and make many small changes to improve things. Many Americans too it seems.

"55% of US consumers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly brands.
94% of millennials and 93% of Gen Z are sustainably driven. This indicates a strong interest in sustainability and eco-friendly practices among these age groups, which make up a large portion of the US population"

Had a large south facing window, needed replacing, the new one has the windows opening inwards, we have fitted shutters on the outside.

It has made a huge difference to cooling of the house, as windows get replaced, we will do this for all of them.

I think, assuming hot summers really will be the norm, we should be making this change to new builds etc.

I live in France opposite a woman whose only water is fed by a well. She didn't opt for mains water when they ran it through the village, probably during the 80s.

You know a heatwave (canicule) is due as she opens the shutters and windows in the north side of her house.

When she does this I get the ice cube trays filled and clear my diary.

Interesting, what company did you use?

That kind of only works if tou have the free funds to choose to do so. In a cost of living crisis it’s the first thing to be dropped

I find the same. It is impossible for me to go to places in those cities in Europe on this heat and they do not have air con. Same here in the U.K. but at least here the weather and heatwaves are only getting worst now.

Well there are plenty of places without in Madrid and Barcelona. It is hell

Not if it's important to you. I've made sacrifices elsewhere rather than compromise my principles and the statistics seem to show others do this.

But in a COL.crisis things like air con also get dropped so...

I've lived in Spain for years. Never lived anywhere without air con , nor worked anywhere... All public buildings have it, trains , buses...
Very odd thread

Have you heard of global warming? AC is awful for the environment.

This is my big concern .
I am having to weigh that up against how ill heat makes me at the moment

It isn’t, given AC is electric and in Western Europe the grid is rapidly decarbonising. If you have solar panels, even better.

The gas you use to heat your home is far more damaging to the environment.

Because a lot of the time buildings are designed to work with the weather rather than against it. I lived in Greece for years and we only ran the aircon for a few days each summer, the rest of the time shutters and fans did the job nicely. I hate being stuck inside a hermetically sealed frigid box.

I'd love to know why Americans are so against drying washing outdoors. Why waste energy using a dryer when the sun and wind are free? (And do a nicer job). I'm aware that HOA have rules about this, but surely it's time they ditched these antiquated ideas.

Agree but lots of Americans seem to base their whole Instagram profile on this, oh and no ice available for drinks. Oh and the fact that lifts , where available, are quite small.

Any thoughts on ice and lifts op?

Slightly off topic I just learned of outdoor AC on Qatar. Blew my mind!

I’ve experienced it in Dubai. Surprisingly effective!

Can you quote some sources for this please?

as long as you use responsively sourced energy I don’t see why it should be

Agree. If you're short of money installing Air Conditioning must be low priority.

Also claiming that you can't get tap water in any restaurant in Europe.

Because most MN threads are 100% fact based 🤣

I live in Southern Spain. Opening the windows is ok until the outside temp gets to 28 C plus.
I have, and use aircon.

Have you not heard that it is too late for any changes made by individuals to affect climate change. Unless factories etc sort their shit out the climate is screwed. People not using AC is not going to buy the planet any more time unfortunately.

Lol...yet they all buy Shein 🤣

Edited...should have been directed to the poster you quoted.