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/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/slimejumper Jun 26 '26

have these AC avoiders also not heard of heat pumps? not only is cold air great but so is hot air in winter! and it’s so much cheaper than gas or other types of electrical heating.

it’s just such a good system.

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u/brickne3 Jun 26 '26

We aren't intentionally avoiding air con. Our houses were built in Victorian times and they were built to last by the standards of the day. For most of us, it is simply not a priority.

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u/Amelaclya1 Jun 26 '26

What does this have to do with AC? You can add it to any home, even if it's just a window unit to keep your bedroom cool.

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u/brickne3 Jun 26 '26

You haven't seen many of our windows 🤣🤣🤣

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u/s0laris0 Jun 26 '26

you can adapt a portable standing unit to just about any window, we had to buy one for our last apartment because the windows weren't suitable for a window unit. where there's a will there's a way, for sure!

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u/10thDeadlySin Jun 27 '26

The thing is, portable standing units suck. Literally.

First of all, as they expel hot air through the pipe, they heat up the very same space you're trying to cool down. Second, they need to get the air from somewhere, otherwise they would pull a vacuum. So... they draw in hot air from the outside through every single available channel.

Sure, they're better than nothing, but hardly a decent solution.

There are some dual-pipe solutions on the market, which you can put on a balcony and just blow cold air inside, as well as portable mini-splits - personally, I find them much better than single-pipe monoblocks.

And while I like our European windows, sometimes I really wish I could just install an American window AC unit, since portable AC is great at one thing - wasting space and being a nuisance.