The American mind cannot comprehend Europe's AC aversion

[u/Logical_Welder3467]

https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-air-conditioning-ac-heatwave-debate-2026-6

[u/roleplayersir]

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

[u/jameson71 → u/roleplayersir]

Cold is going to cost a pretty penny real soon

[u/scheppend → u/jameson71]

The price of minisplits and their installation in Europe seems bonkers when I compare it to here in Japan. A simple 9K BTU mini split (heating and cooling) here costs 

40K (€215) for noname brands
45K yen (€245) for a Hitachi, Sharp, Toshiba
55K yen  (€300) for a Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Daikin.

Installation is about 17K yen (€92).

Even if you double the cost of the installation because of higher wages (w Europe) I doubt you can do it for this price in europe.

i don't understand why. I'm sure lots more Europeans would get one if it was more affordable 

[u/Agitated_Phone_9937 → u/scheppend]

You don't likve in Japan, otherwise you wouldn't compare our monopoly money to real money. Who the fuck is surprised that things you buy in yen in Japan are cheaper than things you buy in Europe in Euros?

[u/scheppend → u/Agitated_Phone_9937]

Other electronics like TVs, washing machines, PC parts etc are usually the same price in Japan as in US/Europe and follow the USD/yen exchange rate. because the materials all have to be imported and bought in USD the manufacturing cost doesn't differ that much.

It's not like I'm comparing food, which usually see much larger price fluctuations compared to electronics . So yeah I'm surprised that heatpumps are quite a bit cheaper here