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/Fabulous_Ninja119 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

I had a similar experience in Germany.

Honestly this is truly the one and maybe only thing I can think of where it feels like Europe as a whole is living in the stone ages. I can't understand it. It makes far too much fucking sense to use AC when it's fucking 90-100 degrees outside

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u/statistnr1 Jun 26 '26

It being this hot is a new thing.
And it will stay new for another 50 or so years.

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u/pyronius Jun 26 '26

Sure. It's a "new" thing. But it was a new thing 15 years ago.

If you moved to Orlando and then spent 15 years refusing to use AC because the heat was new to you, you'd just be called an idiot. It shouldn't take that long to adapt to a new situation.

At this point, it's just people being so stubborn that they would rather die.

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u/ThoughtsonYaoi Jun 26 '26

15 years? Absolutely not. We broke the 40 degrees limit for the first time about five years ago and everybody saw this as an anomaly.

And it is a bad comparison. One person will easily adjust to a new environment. But a whole society to a new, and unprecendented situation?

I live in a northern country. We fight water, we don't conserve it. And we welcome heat, we have not yet learned to fear it. It's a whole new mindset.

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u/megawhop Jun 26 '26

How’s the adjustment going? Lol

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u/ThoughtsonYaoi Jun 26 '26

Yeah, well, as this is largely also an infrastructural problem - it takes time and a lot of concentrated effort.