"This article was originally published in The Washington Post" Pretty much all you need to know in 2026.
I presume the original had affiliate links to air conditioners on Amazon
Air Conditioning Is Not a Luxury, It Is a Necessity
51–60 of 294 posts
Re: Air Conditioning Is Not a Luxury, It Is a Necessity
#52What temperatures are we talking about here? Aren't people living in much higher temperatures in tropical zones just fine?
I've been to a little town in Pakistan where they sell meat out in the open and you can get a hair cut on the street. Houses are run down as you would expect but you better believe they all seemed to have AC units.
Re: Air Conditioning Is Not a Luxury, It Is a Necessity
#53I'm not convinced by the author's point that ACs do not impose a burden on the electrical grid. They write that ACs have gotten more efficient, which may be true, but that's the same Windows developers have been saying over years and yet boot times and hardware requirements have gone way up. One million efficient units still require more energy than no units. And while I definitely believe that European hospitals and…
The reason why they aren't much of a problem for the grid is solar. Right now we already have the issue, that in some areas we're throwing away the majority of the produced electricity. Very common in e.g. southern germany.
Conveniently, cooling is especially needed when the energy production from solar is at its maximum.
I've been part of projects building 20-40 MW solar installations in southern germany and on average we throw away >50% of what we generate.
There is SO MUCH SOLAR now, we don't know what to do with all the energy.
Re: Air Conditioning Is Not a Luxury, It Is a Necessity
#54Cooling technologies are a necessity and air conditioning is one of many possible options. Europe north of France is substantially cooler than much of the US, even on the hottest days. Many homes could get by on ceiling fans, but they are very uncommon here.
>Many homes could get by on ceiling fans Tell me you're German without telling me you're German
I'm from the US, although I live in Europe.
Most Germans don't own ceiling fans, which is the problem.
Re: Air Conditioning Is Not a Luxury, It Is a Necessity
#55We have those stupid regulations in Finland about how the outside of our apartments buildings should look - meaning you cannot put the condenser visibly on the outside of the building. I've heard stories of residents being scalded for putting flowers on their balcony railings that face outwards as it ruins the "look". Given almost all apartment buildings are built consistently between every floor they could ensure co…
wow such beautiful industrial cement buildings how can someone put flowers and destroy the beauty of cement?
Re: Air Conditioning Is Not a Luxury, It Is a Necessity
#56Cooling technologies are a necessity and air conditioning is one of many possible options. Europe north of France is substantially cooler than much of the US, even on the hottest days. Many homes could get by on ceiling fans, but they are very uncommon here.
I live in Sweden. You are incorrect. Having your home basically unlivable a few weeks every year is not ok, and ground heat exchange pumps that provide cooling are energetically basically free, so just do it.
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Re: Air Conditioning Is Not a Luxury, It Is a Necessity
#57The truth is that until recently AC was not needed in the mild climates of much of the continent and it is already present everywhere in the South and East. Regulation and affordability is part of the story, but its far from the primary factor for most people.
Its funny how its mostly US-based libertarian types concerned about AC in Europe. There are plenty of things Europe over-regulates, but this is not it.
Re: Air Conditioning Is Not a Luxury, It Is a Necessity
#58Cooling technologies are a necessity and air conditioning is one of many possible options. Europe north of France is substantially cooler than much of the US, even on the hottest days. Many homes could get by on ceiling fans, but they are very uncommon here.
A couple of years ago that would have been correct, but circumstances have changed.
We've had a series of heat waves this summer, and temperatures have gotten very high inside. Much depends on the location of course, and the type of building, and stuff like that, but the fact is that in Belgium alone thousands of people have died because of the heat. Thousands of people that would still be with us if they would have had adequate cooling.
When it's close to 40 °C in your home, a ceiling fan is not going to make a meaningful difference.
And we need to keep in mind that summers are in all likelihood going to get hotter and hotter.
Re: Air Conditioning Is Not a Luxury, It Is a Necessity
#59> Several countries require AC installation to be approved by the equivalent of a homeowners association or impose noise ordinances that increase compliance costs and paperwork. This is not unique to ACs. Anything on the outside of a building requires your co-owners to agree.
Not in the land of the free, Great Britain. You can put anything on your house, even a 25ft fibreglass shark diving into your loft.
Re: Air Conditioning Is Not a Luxury, It Is a Necessity
#60What temperatures are we talking about here? Aren't people living in much higher temperatures in tropical zones just fine?
Just fine in completely different types of buildings.
There's a lot of buildings to tear down and convert if you want to legitimately make comparisons.