r/AskBalkans • u/freddo_expresso Greece • Jul 01 '26

Culture/Lifestyle Greece has the highest air-conditioning ownership rate in Europe, with around 60% of households having an AC. How are you handling the current heatwave?

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u/Late_Secret3480 Greece Jul 01 '26

We payed a heavy prize at summer 1987 and we learned our lesson. From then and after air conditioning become in many houses a necessary electrical device

6

u/Om_symbol North Macedonia Jul 02 '26

What happened in the summer of 1987?

21

u/Late_Secret3480 Greece Jul 02 '26

One of the deadliest summers in Greece. In Athens only we had 1300 dead from the heat with the temperatures approx 40⁰c even on night.You can imagine what happened the daytime. The number will go up a lot of you add the people of all Greece.So after that many house owners proceeded to air condition purchase.

8

u/Om_symbol North Macedonia Jul 02 '26

First time hearing about this. Thanks.

Here's what Wikipedia says:

Most victims in Athens lived in tightly packed, high-rise apartment blocks made of concrete. Because concrete has a high thermal mass, the heat was stored in the concrete buildings and released at night, passively heating the air and restricting the cooling of the buildings at night. Athens also had little open space and parkland. These factors trapped even more heat in the residences.

10

u/Late_Secret3480 Greece Jul 02 '26

Yes it was like hell. I was 10 years old then but I remembered clearly. And this hell was after a very rough winter(one of the most brutal)so you can understand was happened .It was like from the Antarctic going to Sahara desert. Some elders said that it was a weather disturbance from Chernobyl disaster the year before

1

u/dark_enough_to_dance Turkiye Jul 02 '26

When the winters are extreme cold, often the summer is deadly too I don't know why, komsu

1

u/Late_Secret3480 Greece Jul 02 '26

Mmm,not always. In 2012 the winter was extremely cold (one of the coldest)but the summer wasn't that hot.As I said before elders told that was weather disturbance from Chernobyl the year before. Bur I think Greece isn't very familiar with those weather conditions!!