Easy to say that when your summer is 2 months long with max temp of 30C something, try a 9 months summer ( most of south america, africa, south east asia and oceania ) with a max of 45C +.
We should turn off winter heating too then as that is probably as bad as Airco
BTW I am from a tropical country and I live in mid-northern Europe now, this argument not really fair, the amount of energy (electricity and gas) used here to keep people alive during winter is 10x larger than in my home country during summer.
This is one of the stupidest things I've read today. A lot of Europeans seem to claim that it never gets hot enough during summer to warrant A/C. Then they turn around and complain about "unusual heat wave" and can't work.
A/C is necessary in most parts of the world. I'm European as well and I can't work past 20C, which is why I have A/C and table fans to keep me cool.
And I'm European and can't concentrate below 22-24°C, because it's too cold. 24-26°C is my ideal temperature. (But then again, I'm a woman)
Additionally, having a too large difference between inside and outside isn't just annoying but actually dangerous and even painful when going from 18°C indoors to 34°C outdoors.
There's no contradiction there. Paying for an A/C system that only needs to work for one week per year during the peak of the heat wave is terribly inefficient. It doesn't mean you can't complain about heat especially since it affects far more than just your home (like being outside in any capacity - pedestrian, cyclist, driver, passenger).
Expect it is not a week. It is like 2.5 months of complaining. It has already started. People are talking about freak heat waves and breaking heat records, just like last year and year before that and the year before that and...
"Air conditioning was a most important invention for us, perhaps one of the signal inventions of history. It changed the nature of civilization by making development possible in the tropics. Without air conditioning you can work only in the cool early-morning hours or at dusk. The first thing I did upon becoming prime minister was to install air conditioners in buildings where the civil service worked. This was key to public efficiency."
What about heating system? It takes more energy to heat an apartment from -1° to 21° than to cool the same apartment from 38° to 25°.
For me it feels very strange to focus on AC when in Europe heating account for 33% of all CO2 emission.
The only thing that really matter if you want to act is building insulation, the only things that can change something regarding energy consumption (for both heating and cooling).
The climate change concern is certainly valid, but I don’t really understand your description. Surely it’s considered normal in Europe to have refrigerators and fans, both of which also match that description. It seems like overuse would be the issue with air conditioning, not just its purpose.
Hmm...I live in the USA in a place where nobody has air conditioning. Meanwhile when I visit Paris or Rome I look for an AirBnB with A/C otherwise I will get no sleep..
Here's a good read: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/why-keeping-ourselves...