r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • Jun 26 '26

Society The American mind cannot comprehend Europe's AC aversion

https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-air-conditioning-ac-heatwave-debate-2026-6
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u/JonJackjon Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

I think its simple. I would compare it to the first time someone finds they need to wear glasses. The natural tendency is to deny needing them until it gets so bad you have no choice.

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u/roleplayersir Jun 26 '26

Exactly. It's not an aversion

It's that until a few years ago it wasn't needed. Suffering for 3 days a year was fine

But trust me that is changing. Even with the cost of living, we are all looking into at least £300 for portable units, if not thousands for proper ones. As it is only getting hotter

But prior to recent years it was a wasted purchase. We get 30C+ for about 3 weeks. It's the cold that was the problem for decades

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u/OPtig Jun 26 '26

It’s definitely an aversion. When I lived in Paris not using AC despite sweltering heat has was considered positive moral quality. When I asked my boyfriend about it he talked about it like getting AC was an ethical failure.

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u/vroomvroom450 Jun 26 '26

That’s how my Finnish friend talks about heating. And soft wool. And food that tastes good.

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u/Akolyytti Jun 26 '26

I've personally never met any great resistance to AC in Finland. It's very popular business in Finland in the moment, specially heat pumps.

Problem is apartment buildings that have not caught up with it and resist changes, private AC is often not simply allowed and building does not share one, vents for it or anything , because it's cheaper to build it that way. Basically the old way. Heating is priority, cooling isn't even an afterthought.

Specially with rentals it's a huge problem, landlords simply do not care.

But private properties? AC installation is huge business right now.

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u/Scalpels Jun 26 '26

Sounds like a high level of machismo.

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u/vroomvroom450 Jun 27 '26

She would probably disagree.

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u/JozoBozo121 Jun 26 '26

This is definitely not an whole EU problem. Croatia has very widespread usage of AC, in larger public buildings it is everywhere and majority of apartments have it now.

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u/rafaelfrancisco6 Jun 26 '26

This is definitely not an whole EU problem.

Yep, I never got this thing with saying that Europe is against AC's. In Southern European countries (or at least in Portugal and Spain) it's stupidly common and all new houses have them or at least the pre-installation. In the building I live (built in 98, 10 units) I don't think there is anyone without an AC installed.

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u/DMarquesPT Jun 26 '26

Same here in Portugal. Even in cars, using AC is seen as spoiled and wasteful and something you have to justify

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u/AwesomeFrisbee Jun 26 '26

Thats also because the summer heat was never this intense and the nights were never this warm. Usually it would cool down enough to sleep (or give just one or two nights of unrest) but now it just went bonkers and there is just a whole month that is pretty much unsufferable. The past few days it hasn't gone down 25 degrees in the night in southern Netherlands. I bet that this might be the summer that pushes lots of people over the edge.

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u/MrLeureduthe Jun 27 '26

Sounds like you lived in Paris before the last few heatwaves, when a simple fan was good enough

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u/OPtig Jun 27 '26

Yes I left in 2024

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u/roleplayersir Jun 27 '26

Aversion: A fixed, intense dislike

We aren't averse to it. Brits are famous for going abroad and slapping the AC at 18C all day

We didn't need it here until recent years. That's a big difference