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Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner

economist.com

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Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner

#131

Post by stasomatic »

carlosrg wrote: post #29

I don’t understand the obsession the Americans have with claiming that we hate AC. Europe is not a country. There are countries where AC is more used. Here in Spain it’s common. It’s probably less common in other, less hot countries. Besides heat, countries with a lower GDP probably have less ACs installed than richer countries. So probably France have more AC-per-capita than Moldova, my guess is that something simil…

You should ask an American. Glad you asked, temperatures in Paris are of no concern to 99% of us in the US, we have our own merde to deal with. What's the big deal anyway, I had an AC unit hanging out of our concrete multi story bunker in Soviet Odessa. Some places are just hot and I am not gonna "man up" and keel over some ideology or architecture preservation, or I'd just move. The tech has been around for decades and has only gotten better and more efficient. Install AC, don't install it, swim in Seine if you must, buy a neck fan at Auchan or Carrefour, whatevs, Americans are pretty easy going, no matter the mother country and so are the Europeans™ , IME. We have other issues to tolerate or deal with for the next 2.5y, but that's a different thread. Cheers, mate, didn't want to come off nasty, I spent a considerable amount of time in Catalonia and Madrid, lovely everything.

Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner

#132

Post by Scroll_Swe »

orwin wrote: post #106
m000 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Having survived dozens of mediterranean village summers without A/C, I am genuinely puzzled how it came to be considered a necessity. Is it "modern" construction methods that turned buildings into heat batteries? So, it became a necessity in the cities, and then spread everywhere because we became spoiled and our collective tolerance to heat dropped?

Last night, or rather this morning, the temperature reached it's lowest at 5 AM: 28C. When I woke up two hours later we had 33, and when I started working at 9, 38. The thermometer then reached 43 at noon, where it it still stuck 4 hours 45 minutes later, despite the rising humidity (I live by the sea), making the humidex reach 51. The temperature won't be below 34 before midnight, and might be below 30 at 5AM tomorr…

Alright. Here in Sweden I had 27C MAX.

Totally doable

Looks like it will top out at that.

We have had plenty 30C+ weather.

Costal helps. The elite.

Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner

#133

Post by telesilla »

spockz wrote: post #20

I already love our airconditioning. The only downside is how quickly we became used to the luxury. But being to make our house liveable during this heatwave and be able to have friends and family and friends of the kids over as a refuge is a blessing. The only regret I have is that this house only has mechanical ventilation (blowing waste air out and sucking in air through vents above the windows) instead of balanced…

Thank you for using the water responsibly! Nothing I hate more than being dripped on while walking around the city from AC unit pipes hanging out the window.

Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner

#134

Post by boelboel »

Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote: post #122
invalidusernam3 wrote: post #19

Why has this become a meme? Sure aircon is nice but there are also reasons why it's not common in some parts of Europe. Here in central Prague a lot of the buildings are historic and protected, so you can't just gouge out a section of the building to install an aircon. Also it's generally only hot enough for aircon maybe 2-4 weeks a year. I'm seeing more and more American's yapping about not having aircon in Europe.…

I lived 25 years in Rome, now I live in Vancouver. Went back to Rome in the summer this year (haven't been there in summer in about 8 years)... And holy moly it's so hot. Unbearably hot and humid. You don't want to step out, it's outright unpleasant.

But Rome has more AC than vancouver

Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner

#135

Post by Fire-Dragon-DoL »

boelboel wrote: post #134
Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived 25 years in Rome, now I live in Vancouver. Went back to Rome in the summer this year (haven't been there in summer in about 8 years)... And holy moly it's so hot. Unbearably hot and humid. You don't want to step out, it's outright unpleasant.

But Rome has more AC than vancouver

Not really? There are so many places with no ac (still) and there are so many places with ac kept too low.

Vancouver is a mess with ac too, but Vancouver is also way cooler

Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner

#136

Post by boelboel »

Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote: post #135
boelboel wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But Rome has more AC than vancouver

Not really? There are so many places with no ac (still) and there are so many places with ac kept too low. Vancouver is a mess with ac too, but Vancouver is also way cooler

About 50-55% of homes have AC in Rome compared to 25% in vancouver, I'm sure it'll get to 70-80% soon enough.

Right now it's unbearable but even 10 years ago you had a fraction of the nights with these temperatures (over 23degrees). People are just slow with change and some older Italians are superstitious about the cold air. With costs being difficult for some on top.

Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner

#137

Post by Fire-Dragon-DoL »

boelboel wrote: post #136
Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really? There are so many places with no ac (still) and there are so many places with ac kept too low. Vancouver is a mess with ac too, but Vancouver is also way cooler

About 50-55% of homes have AC in Rome compared to 25% in vancouver, I'm sure it'll get to 70-80% soon enough. Right now it's unbearable but even 10 years ago you had a fraction of the nights with these temperatures (over 23degrees). People are just slow with change and some older Italians are superstitious about the cold air. With costs being difficult for some on top.

There is also something that doesn't show up in statistics, where in Italy the AC is kept at higher temperatures in public buildings. I am not sure why, I guess the whole "too much temperature difference", yet I have been to 3 gyms this summer and I found the AC grossly insufficient for the heat generated in the gym

Re: Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner

#138

Post by boodleboodle »

casefields wrote: post #120
LunaSea wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile the US has a 1.31 drownings per 100 000 inhabitants and France 0.81 per 100 000 inhabitants. 60% less than the US.

But just like crime you can break those down by race and find huge correlations but it makes the people very uncomfortable.

Those people are uncomfortable because you confuse ecomonic/ wealth divide with racial divide
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