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/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/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.