To put it mildly: the reasons why I consider leaving the continent for good are growing and counting - not over decades, but rapidly over years and month.
A/C is one reason. I bought one for my condo two years ago after experiencing 35+ degrees Celsius over weeks one or two years ago.
It was the single best decision ever, it is increasing quality of life massively. It cost me roughly 2000EUR - an investment, not a hefty sum.
I feel no difference in sleepiness, mood etc. at during summers where nights show 25+ degrees.
3 month per year for 2 years and counting means such a bargain for me given this summer. Imagine moving to a hotel for 3 month with A/C - 6-9 month at a day rate of around 200EUR. Now put that into perspective with the 2k investment.
Energy costs surprised me extremely. I expected to have to pay adional 200-300EUR as a result of its usage during summer month.
And I was stunned to be reunded 6EUR instead. So it seems to save energy magically, too. ;)
PS: I rarely join any events during summer given the fact that an event with 1k to 20+k guests would not be considered heat sinks. Today a friend of mine goes to an Open Air concert which starts at 18:00. I wished her well, since the heat indicators shows 37 degrees there. I have to bite my tongue to call it a nutjob. In the Italy for example, understandably since decades Open Air events start around or after 21:00. Maybe is has to do with the sun.
I understand that there's a bit of a barrier of entry to air conditioners, added to an already high resistance to change, making them uncommon in Europe. What I don't get is why aren't ceiling fans common there? Fans themselves aren't uncommon, so why not put in the little bit of effort to install them? There's an added bonus of being able to run them in reverse in the winter, to spread out heat, which is especially necessary when heat comes from radiators.
A probable answer is that the data are incomplete or dubious. Saying that 61000 Europeans were killed by heat in 2022, same year when Covid was killing people left and right with every politician trying to hide it under the rug, looks debatable at least.
The graph provided suggests around 120.000 killed for Europe, against 240.000 killed on Asia.
But the majority of deaths by heat aren't even recorded in Asia, and Africa does not even appear. It seems that 380 millions of Hindi suffer heat risk [1]. There are estimates of 30.000 people being killed in five days of May 2026 in the biggest Indian cities.
> "Across the continent, only about a fifth of homes have air conditioning, against nearly 90 % in US"
Different countries use different standards of construction. Comparing houses in US and Europe does not have sense. Europe uses a lot of stone or concrete in places where US would run to put wood instead. Well insulated houses don't need so much A/C or don't need it at all [2]. And is also location based. Nobody will survive the Germany winter with a standard house built in Malaga.
--------------------
[1] "Aljazeera. India is being left to die in the heat. Modi has denied climate change for years. Now, as the death toll climbs uncounted, his government offers branding instead of protection"https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/5/22/india-is-being-...
[2] Look at the map, people in Spain was dying in the Mediterranean, but not in the center. The center is hotter. The difference is that touristic houses in the Mediterranean are cheaply insulated, but those in Castilla are built to stand heat and may not need so much A/C or no A/C at all.
Another thing, the "if only those stupid Europeans used A/C like we do in the US they could ignore climate change problems like we do too" seems to be being pushed hard by far-right media in the US. So the issue is at least as much, if not more, a political rather than technical one.
When i was in Europe, I had a roommate and they wouldn’t let me heat the room to more than 20 degrees. To understand Europe you must understand that using less energy and being conservative with spending is considered a virtue.
It’s not that the government is denying people AC. The citizens themselves are culturally and morally against AC. It’s almost as if you he has to endure the suffering caused by climate change, as if it vindicates the climate change ideology itself.
What’s annoying is that the same people have no problem going for weekly vacations to south of France.
I side with you and can share another crazy story:
Between 2018 and 2020, I lived in a newly built, 90-square-meter rental apartment in Germany. It was luxurious, had a fire-rated door, and was very well soundproofed as well as equipped with a very spacious bathroom and walk-in shower.
What made it sadly special was its so called thermal design concept: thanks to a natural air circulation system, the heating could only reach a maximum of 19 degrees in the winter. That’s how the system was designed and specified. The walls very well insulated, but there were slits that connected the rooms to the outside world to allow for air exchange. Not large or long ones, here and there hardly noticeable.
It’s crazy how restrictive the legal regulations are. So the 20-degree limit is by no means just a matter of perception—quite the opposite. As a consequence we placed electric heaters in almost every room. What a farce...
I'm from Poland originally and I also set my thermostat to 20C. My entire life in fact. Not once did I consider it some virtuous effort. If I didn't read your post I still wouldn't know that it's something special.
Are you sure your roommate wasn't just used to 20C and it felt good to him? I often feel "it's too hot in here" when I have to visit offices with temp set higher.
Edit: I had to check because I thought I'm going insane but 18-21C is recommended by WHO?
I think the AC adoption is completely normal and some people really have fun playing astrology and interpreting everything as something more interesting than it truly is.
My house is by no means modern (built by pirates in 1600s) but it's fine 99.9% of the time without AC. So once a year when there's a heatwave, after several days, it may heat up too much inside and then for 1-2 days I walk around pondering "huh, perhaps I should install AC" - heck, if there's that 2nd day I may even Google about different AC models.
But next day heat is gone and I'm like "meh, okay, maybe I will get it some other time" and then I never return to it until the next year's heat remind sme about it again.
Once hot weather in my area becomes much more frequent, I'm sure I will then be finally wiggled into buying AC.
You can already see it across Europe too. Places that had hot weather for a long time have AC: Italy, Spain etc. I have seen plenty whether staying with my Spanish friends or vacationing in Italy.
But I also see it on a local scale too: I live by the sea but my friends living in central London whi often have 5C degrees more already did have plenty of chats about different AC models years ago. They got coaxed into buying AC by frequency of the event.
There is IMO all there is to it. People will just move slow and natural human laziness does not discriminate: old people who may die in this heat will also be caught among those who think they can make due one more year without AC. The only alternative to speed this up would be governments subsidizing or forcibly installing ACs in people houses.
And sure, you can moan about some specific regulations or show some one absurd story from that or this place - but if the real inertia was there, it would happen.
I hate going to our European offices over summer. It’s 2026 and their concept of climate control is opening the windows or maybe finding a fan somewhere and turning it on.
That doesn’t work so well when it’s 40C outside.
I wonder when they will join the rest of us in the future.
To put it mildly: the reasons why I consider leaving the continent for good are growing and counting - not over decades, but rapidly over years and month.
A/C is one reason. I bought one for my condo two years ago after experiencing 35+ degrees Celsius over weeks one or two years ago.
It was the single best decision ever, it is increasing quality of life massively. It cost me roughly 2000EUR - an investment, not a hefty sum.
I feel no difference in sleepiness, mood etc. at during summers where nights show 25+ degrees.
3 month per year for 2 years and counting means such a bargain for me given this summer. Imagine moving to a hotel for 3 month with A/C - 6-9 month at a day rate of around 200EUR. Now put that into perspective with the 2k investment.
Energy costs surprised me extremely. I expected to have to pay adional 200-300EUR as a result of its usage during summer month.
And I was stunned to be reunded 6EUR instead. So it seems to save energy magically, too. ;)
PS: I rarely join any events during summer given the fact that an event with 1k to 20+k guests would not be considered heat sinks. Today a friend of mine goes to an Open Air concert which starts at 18:00. I wished her well, since the heat indicators shows 37 degrees there. I have to bite my tongue to call it a nutjob. In the Italy for example, understandably since decades Open Air events start around or after 21:00. Maybe is has to do with the sun.
I understand that there's a bit of a barrier of entry to air conditioners, added to an already high resistance to change, making them uncommon in Europe. What I don't get is why aren't ceiling fans common there? Fans themselves aren't uncommon, so why not put in the little bit of effort to install them? There's an added bonus of being able to run them in reverse in the winter, to spread out heat, which is especially necessary when heat comes from radiators.
There are lies, damned lies, and statistics
A probable answer is that the data are incomplete or dubious. Saying that 61000 Europeans were killed by heat in 2022, same year when Covid was killing people left and right with every politician trying to hide it under the rug, looks debatable at least.
The graph provided suggests around 120.000 killed for Europe, against 240.000 killed on Asia.
But the majority of deaths by heat aren't even recorded in Asia, and Africa does not even appear. It seems that 380 millions of Hindi suffer heat risk [1]. There are estimates of 30.000 people being killed in five days of May 2026 in the biggest Indian cities.
> "Across the continent, only about a fifth of homes have air conditioning, against nearly 90 % in US"
Different countries use different standards of construction. Comparing houses in US and Europe does not have sense. Europe uses a lot of stone or concrete in places where US would run to put wood instead. Well insulated houses don't need so much A/C or don't need it at all [2]. And is also location based. Nobody will survive the Germany winter with a standard house built in Malaga.
--------------------
[1] "Aljazeera. India is being left to die in the heat. Modi has denied climate change for years. Now, as the death toll climbs uncounted, his government offers branding instead of protection" https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/5/22/india-is-being-...
[2] Look at the map, people in Spain was dying in the Mediterranean, but not in the center. The center is hotter. The difference is that touristic houses in the Mediterranean are cheaply insulated, but those in Castilla are built to stand heat and may not need so much A/C or no A/C at all.
Another thing, the "if only those stupid Europeans used A/C like we do in the US they could ignore climate change problems like we do too" seems to be being pushed hard by far-right media in the US. So the issue is at least as much, if not more, a political rather than technical one.
When i was in Europe, I had a roommate and they wouldn’t let me heat the room to more than 20 degrees. To understand Europe you must understand that using less energy and being conservative with spending is considered a virtue.
It’s not that the government is denying people AC. The citizens themselves are culturally and morally against AC. It’s almost as if you he has to endure the suffering caused by climate change, as if it vindicates the climate change ideology itself.
What’s annoying is that the same people have no problem going for weekly vacations to south of France.
I side with you and can share another crazy story:
Between 2018 and 2020, I lived in a newly built, 90-square-meter rental apartment in Germany. It was luxurious, had a fire-rated door, and was very well soundproofed as well as equipped with a very spacious bathroom and walk-in shower.
What made it sadly special was its so called thermal design concept: thanks to a natural air circulation system, the heating could only reach a maximum of 19 degrees in the winter. That’s how the system was designed and specified. The walls very well insulated, but there were slits that connected the rooms to the outside world to allow for air exchange. Not large or long ones, here and there hardly noticeable.
It’s crazy how restrictive the legal regulations are. So the 20-degree limit is by no means just a matter of perception—quite the opposite. As a consequence we placed electric heaters in almost every room. What a farce...
I'm from Poland originally and I also set my thermostat to 20C. My entire life in fact. Not once did I consider it some virtuous effort. If I didn't read your post I still wouldn't know that it's something special.
Are you sure your roommate wasn't just used to 20C and it felt good to him? I often feel "it's too hot in here" when I have to visit offices with temp set higher.
Edit: I had to check because I thought I'm going insane but 18-21C is recommended by WHO?
It's easy to dress up warm. I think it's mostly about costs, not climate.
I think the AC adoption is completely normal and some people really have fun playing astrology and interpreting everything as something more interesting than it truly is.
My house is by no means modern (built by pirates in 1600s) but it's fine 99.9% of the time without AC. So once a year when there's a heatwave, after several days, it may heat up too much inside and then for 1-2 days I walk around pondering "huh, perhaps I should install AC" - heck, if there's that 2nd day I may even Google about different AC models.
But next day heat is gone and I'm like "meh, okay, maybe I will get it some other time" and then I never return to it until the next year's heat remind sme about it again.
Once hot weather in my area becomes much more frequent, I'm sure I will then be finally wiggled into buying AC.
You can already see it across Europe too. Places that had hot weather for a long time have AC: Italy, Spain etc. I have seen plenty whether staying with my Spanish friends or vacationing in Italy.
But I also see it on a local scale too: I live by the sea but my friends living in central London whi often have 5C degrees more already did have plenty of chats about different AC models years ago. They got coaxed into buying AC by frequency of the event.
There is IMO all there is to it. People will just move slow and natural human laziness does not discriminate: old people who may die in this heat will also be caught among those who think they can make due one more year without AC. The only alternative to speed this up would be governments subsidizing or forcibly installing ACs in people houses.
And sure, you can moan about some specific regulations or show some one absurd story from that or this place - but if the real inertia was there, it would happen.
I hate going to our European offices over summer. It’s 2026 and their concept of climate control is opening the windows or maybe finding a fan somewhere and turning it on. That doesn’t work so well when it’s 40C outside.
I wonder when they will join the rest of us in the future.