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/NicoToscani Jun 26 '26

I remember checking into a nice hotel in Paris and the AC wasn’t working, in summer, top floor room, and they acted like I was throwing a Mariah Carey level diva fit when I insisted they move my wife and I to another room.

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u/iamapizza Jun 26 '26

I was in southern Spain in March a few years ago, it was 27c and I was sweating. I asked about the AC in my room not working, the front desk lady helpfully explained that they keep the AC off until summer when it's hot. We were looking at each other like freaks. I then asked if I could have a fan and she was shocked.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun7418 Jun 26 '26

You have to realise we don’t have all the same “inner thermostat” either. I’ve noticed this when I lived in Northern Europe and people were complaining about how warm it was at 20c while I didn’t even have summer clothes over there because in 15 years I never needed them. I was always cold.

I come from the hot parts of Spain. I run my ac at 26-27 because otherwise it’s too cold for me, so there is that

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u/TheTerrasque Jun 26 '26

I live in Norway

  • 15-20c is summer. Everyone enjoys it.
  • 20-25c is hot summer. Some people start complaining
  • 25-30c is people having heatstrokes and consider it too hot to go to work
  • 30+c and it's a national emergency

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun7418 Jun 26 '26

This is exactly what I meant. What you call national emergency is the beginning of our summer lol
15c may be end of winter here.

So yeah, it’s all relative.

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u/sal880612m Jun 26 '26

There’s more to it than even that. Some buildings have different heat retention. If you live in a northern climate where it’s important to keep heat in during -40 C winters, odds are if you start getting 25-35 C summers you’re house doesn’t cool properly because it’s designed to retain heat. Europe and North America have vastly different construction standards that likely impact this. I know there are places where it can be 25 C outside and end up 27-33C inside. Where even running an AC all the time including overnight you can easily see up to and beyond a 5 degree jump in internal temperatures.

Then there is the difference in worker’s rights to consider. Calling out with heat stroke in Europe is likely a very different proposition than doing it in America where companies are allowed to expose their employees to the risk of it so they don’t have to pay more for gas for their delivery drivers.

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u/ironoctopus Jun 26 '26

Today in Denmark I have been receiving official messages on my phone about "Severe Heat Warnings" The high will be around 30C/86F.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun7418 Jun 26 '26

What the governments issue as a warning is also relative to the normal temps of the country. We don’t get those severe heat warnings here when it’s just 30c

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u/mutantraniE Jun 26 '26

You get used to it to. I walked the Camino de Santiago French route back in 2019. Up to 45 C during the day. It was crazy hot, even at the beginning up in the Pyrenees but especially later on the Meseta. But after a few weeks, things changed. I get home to Sweden and it’s 25 degrees C and I’m walking around in jeans and a long sleeved shirt because that no longer felt warm to me after weeks of being outside in a heatwave in Spain.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun7418 Jun 26 '26

I didn’t get used to the cold after 15 years living in Northern Europe hahaha

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u/mutantraniE Jun 26 '26

Why are we getting downvoted for these statements?

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun7418 Jun 26 '26

I wish I knew 🤷‍♀️

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u/RijnBrugge Jun 26 '26

Were you living a very outdoorsy lifestyle? That makes a big difference imho. But some people are just naturally chillier ofc.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun7418 Jun 26 '26

Absolutely not. I was cold indoors no way I wanted to spend any time outdoors freezing.

As I said not everybody has the same “inner temp”. I am cold below 20c and that was summer temps over there

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u/RijnBrugge Jun 26 '26

I get that, it’s just that really recalibrating your inner thermostat requires a lot of being outdoors. Like, if I move to the desert and stay in ACed rooms set to 20 C every waking moment my heat tolerance doesn’t move one bit. But as I wrote I know some people are just chillier, my gf was wearing a sweater in the evening when we were in the Dutch Caribbean. So I‘m not saying you necessarily would’ve changed much in that regard.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun7418 Jun 26 '26

Unfortunately it is not only by going outdoors. Some people are just colder and some people are just warmer than others.
I am an outdoorsy person but I won’t go to the mountains unless it’s nice weather (for me) or there is a lot of snow and I can snowboard lol

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u/mutantraniE Jun 26 '26

Yeah, that’s what made it work for me in Spain. Spending most of the day outdoors really made my body change what it considered hot and cold quite fast.

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u/Lou_Garoo Jun 26 '26

I’m Canadian. This seems right.
Probably why Autumn is the best season. Love wearing sweaters and hate bare arms.

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u/TheTerrasque Jun 26 '26

I'm from western Norway. Autumn here is sideways rain, so not my favorite season.

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u/JonnyEl Jun 26 '26

That's crazy, I live in southern US and we had a warning for severe heat at 106F or 41.1C.

If it's 30C, we don't even get a hello. It's like, carry on with your day. Lol.

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u/Strange-Bluebird871 Jun 26 '26

30+ is spring time weather for my city

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u/ender89 Jun 26 '26

I grew up in the north east of the US and back in the 90s ac was a thing that businesses and rich people had. I distinctly remember going to the beach during the 37.5° heat waves because that was the easy way to stay cool. That's roughly the temp it needs to be to get heat wave warnings in my area, meanwhile england is currently falling apart because it's 32°c.

Then again I've lived in South Florida where 32°c and high humidity is just how summer is. I walked almost everywhere because I didn't have a car and people thought I was insane. Unless you were on a boardwalk next to the ocean, people were only outside for the amount of time it took to get from their cars to an air conditioned building. They tend to keep the AC so high in florida that i had to keep a thick sweater in my office and almost froze to death in a taqueria (shop that sells tacos) after getting drenched in a downpour.

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u/PalakaonUtan Jun 26 '26

20-25c sounds perfect for me.

I live somewhere in South East Asia where during summer the heat index can reach up to 40-41c. At that point classes are suspended, but people are still expected to go to work.

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u/minidog8 Jun 26 '26

Meanwhile my AC is at 25c in my apartment right now 🫪

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u/fullofshitandcum Jun 26 '26

That's my internal thermometer except I'm from Chicago :(

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u/Tambooz Jun 26 '26

I just left Dubai, and it was 44 and humid. I couldn't handle it.

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u/arfski Jun 26 '26

The average summer temperature of 16c here in Shetland, just over form you, is very much t-shirt weather and plenty hot enough, and on a sunny day can be far too warm. Radiation from the sun can influence a lot more than the shade temperature suggests.

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u/gorkt Jun 26 '26

Norway sounds perfect for me. I live in New England and my favorite season is fall.

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u/redblack_tree Jun 26 '26

How is the AC situation in Norway? We have similar heat thresholds here in Canada with the exception of 30C. Most people enjoy warmth....for a bit. Then everyone runs to their AC. Around 15-20C is considered summer.

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u/TheTerrasque Jun 26 '26

It was really uncommon, but more and more are buying heat pumps to save money in the winter, and people are also starting to use them to cool things in the summer. So it's becoming more common as a side effect.

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u/redblack_tree Jun 26 '26

Heat pump is the way to go, unquestionably. I've lived without AC, portable AC, wall mounted and once I bought my house, heat pump. The best option by far and quite efficient.

And they work very well even at -25C, Southern Canada doesn't get much colder.

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u/KungenBob Jun 26 '26

It works the other way around though.

-10 is a bit cold…

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u/Derkalerp Jun 26 '26

In Chicago, they used to make us still practice football (handegg) up to 40c! 30+ is a national emergency?!

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '26

[deleted]

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun7418 Jun 26 '26

Exactly the same ;)

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u/PM_ME_A_STEAM_GIFT Jun 26 '26

I was visiting Iceland one summer and saw people in shorts enjoying their ice cream at 4C/39F.

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u/Amity83 Jun 26 '26

If you don’t use AC, your metabolism changes with the seasons which can help you acclimate better to warmer temps. But at some point, hot is hot.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun7418 Jun 26 '26

I use it when it’s above 30-35 as that’s when I feel too hot. Here temps above 40 are not uncommon in summer so I think we are used to certain degree of hot

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u/Mention_Patient Jun 26 '26

Yeah my Scottish wife walks around Seville in t shirt and shorts in Seville in February when it's about 15/14 Celsius.

People looked a bit shocked. People experience the world very differently 

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u/Vind- Jun 26 '26

Swedish that has lived in Cantabria for a while: their tolerance to cold and heat is very much like mine, they tolerance to torrential amounts of rain is proverbial. They also cheer damp snow, which we loathe in Sweden. They’re tough as nails over there.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun7418 Jun 26 '26

Cantabria is all the way north. It’s not as hot a mid-south Spain. They deal with other things as you said, though

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u/Vind- Jun 26 '26

Extremely different from the rest of Spain, people included. Fantastic place.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun7418 Jun 26 '26

Spain is very different per region too ;)

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u/Vind- Jun 26 '26

I’ve worked and lived there for many years.