Well yeah, because it requires re-engineering the entire built environment!
Heat waves only became a serious problem in Europe in the last decade. The vast majority of buildings predate the need for air conditioning by several decades - and in plenty of cases by several centuries. The buildings are designed around being livable in a pre-climate-catastrophe climate without needing air conditioning - which is perfectly achievable if you aren't stupid enough to build a city in the middle of a desert.
Adapting all those buildings and streets will take time. Blindly putting AC everywhere and forcing everyone to drive from building to building in an ACed car isn't going to work, that kind of wasteful behavior is how we got into this situation in the first place. You need to redesign the heat management, and you need to start with things like mandating shades to prevent heat from entering buildings in the first place, and planting trees to avoid the heat island effect.
AC will indeed be needed to deal with the final heat peak when outside night temperature is in excess of 30C, but it isn't the one-size-fits-all solution for every heat-related problem it might seem at first glance. If your AC needs to run for more than a few days per year, you've seriously screwed up.
An AC unit essentially requires just a small hole in the wall and a bracket to hold the compressor unit. Europeans have walls don't they? I'm European and I have a wall that could host an AC unit. The barrier is regulatory not engineering.
By all means install an AC unit to deal with the worst of it. Just install shades as well when you've got the scaffolding out so you can install a smaller, cheaper, and less energy-hungry one.
Unfortunately I personally live in a highrise, and in a rental unit, so that "small hole and a bracket" definitely isn't an option for everyone.
Yes you can (I've got one), there are various window seals to adapt to that or you can dyi too. The noise etc make it a temporary solution at best but it's possible.
I've also used portable AC inside my home, it was horrible, a lot of heat creeps in due to bad insulation for the heat exhaust pipe, also creates vacuum since it exhaust air, which in turn sucks in more hot air
You'd have to have your windows open at all times with only a thin fabric blocking the opening to do that with most european windows. And then you still have your compressor inside generating heat.
Is this actually illegal in many places? I proposed this to my parents in Germany and they seemed to be under the impression that they could install one but their village is getting a village-wide heat pump system this fall that can also cool in summer, so they are just sitting this summer out as is.
I highly doubt there are many (if any) places with "installing any kind of AC is illegal" laws.
On the other hand, there are plenty of noise-related laws preventing you from installing an AC loud enough to be a nuisance for your neighbors. But that's solved by getting one with proper sound isolation, or placing it in such a way that the noise doesn't travel to the neighboring properties.
Similarly, you aren't allowed to install an AC on the facade of a protected historical building. But that can be solved by installing it on the rear of the building (where it is invisible), or by placing the unit itself indoors and using hidden air vents.
There's also the issue of landlords and HoAs banning you from making modifications, but that's not really a matter of legality.
The rules in NL at least are 45dB during hte day, 40dB at night, at property line.
Our machine in "silent" mode is around 42dB ~60cm from the unit, and we can get it to 40dB with a little distnace from property line and a sound barrier between it and the neighbour. It really is _shockingly_ quiet compared to the dull roar of AC that was ubiquitous to me growing up in central California. (40 dB is "faint" or "computer/babbling brook according to https://soundproofingguide.com/decibels-level-comparison-cha... ) Neighbours still whine about it though. I think they dislike A/C on principle, though.
But making a hole in the wall to the outside is. That would generally be considered a permanent change and requires approval from landlord and in case the apartment building has multiple owners, approval from those as well
You also need an electric wire/fuse with a certain capacity and not every house has that, esp. when it's old, they cook and heat with gas; worse if the cabling etc. up to the property has to be updated too.
And this might sound trivial but if it's a block of flats and every flat installs at least one AC unit all of this adds up to huge additional demand which is far far more than a small hole.
That's for a larger unit. Most of the world is using low power mini splits that draw less than the max on one outlet. You only need to cool the bedroom(s).
Trust me, the rest of the world has figured this problem out a long time ago. The hottest countries in the global south tend to also be the countries with low electrical capacities.
If you live in a country where 3kW is the electrical capacity of your entire house, you just buy an AC that draws around 1kW.
You size the AC units to your circuit you don't size your circuit to the AC.
Not an engineering problem, but installing a good (not the mobile AC with the flimsy fabric window seal) AC is not easy in a lot of cases. You need the OK from your landlord and since you mount something on the exterior you also need the OK of many neighbors.
This is completely ridiculous you just need to let people use AC properly and it will solve most of the problem with people dying. That doesn’t mean you need to go from place to place in AC or never be out of AC, but every person in southern Europe should have an AC unit in their bedroom and deaths will go down substantially.
Another thing that would help is if Europe stopped being so averse to new construction so that people could build new buildings with central AC that matches the current reality of its climate and demographics, rather than the climate and demographics of last millennium.
> you just need to let people use AC properly (..) every person in southern Europe should have an AC unit in their bedroom and deaths will go down substantially.
Yes, exactly: install AC where it truly helps and where it is truly needed. That's the point I was trying to make. Most of the rest is solved far more efficient by things like installing shades. In other words: don't go all-out on giant whole-home AC without first stopping the huge inflow of new heat.
> if Europe stopped being so averse to new construction
We're not, there's plenty of new construction over in Europe.
The difference is that European buildings are built to last, so structurally there's no need to tear them down after a couple of decades. They are perfectly usable for another half-century after a minor renovation (including retrofitting AC!), so why destroy a charming historic district for absolutely no reason?
That doesn't mean buildings are never torn down, of course. Right now a lot of post-WWII rental units are being replaced by new construction, as they are architecturally nothing special and renovating them to modern standards is simply way more expensive than replacing them entirely.
I get rage when I hear those "5 clever tips to stay cool without A/C".
Many buildings already have shades, but please tell me more how those shades and
"properly ventilating during the night" (aka not getting sleep half the night due to outside noise) will keep my apartment at a livable temperature when the air temperature outside never drops below 23 degrees for more than an hour.
You can't effectively remove the heat that has pooled in the apartment with a 2-3 degree temperature difference, let alone in the few hours where you actually have that difference.
So because of thinking like the one in your post, we can't have real AC's (because to "protect the environment" we'd first need to install every other system that doesn't help then prove that with a mountain of paperwork), so my only option is to open the well-insulated window so I can stick the coolant hose of a portable unit through it.
I think the "properly installed AC bad" mentality will only change once the entire population of renters has those inefficient portable units (that are de facto impossible to regulate) and even the anti-AC group realizes that encouraging "real" ACs is much better than the workarounds that the status quo forces.
I think you missed the point - when the outside temperature doesn't go below 23, you can't really get the inside temperature below 26 or so, because as the difference gets smaller, your ability to remove heat disappears.
I did miss the point, but also it is currently 43C outside and I keep my house at 26C to stay comfortable. Comfort is just what you train yourself to be accustomed to
> no need to tear them down after a couple of decades
Where are people constructing buildings that need to be torn down after a couple decades? This is a refrain I've heard about construction (in the US?) several times in discussions like these, and I find it very puzzling.
I've seen some 2020+ construction in the Texas market that might not make it much beyond 2040. If you want to see stuff that lasts, constrain year of construction to the 20th century on Zillow.
I know of entire subdivisions where the new homes are being actively consumed by black mold due to insufficient HVAC capacity for latent heat removal. Every single central dehumidifier installed in those builds has lost its refrigerant charge due to some common manufacturer (Honeywell) defect. So, in some cases we didn't HVAC hard enough despite being America.
I don't understand how you can maintain a civilization in a place like Miami or Galveston without modern hvac.
"An unusual feature of Japanese housing is that houses are presumed to have a limited lifespan, and are often torn down and rebuilt after a few decades,..."
Europe is a continent with a lot of different countries, all with different laws and regulations. Even the ones who are in the European Union have different rules and regulations.
So please realize that any blanket statements about Europe work as well as making one about the Americas (ie North/South).
A US state is not a country. I get that there is a lot of federalism in the US and that states often have different laws and regulations, but the same is true for European countries. You can compare the US to Germany, or Sourh Carolina to Bavaria, by your own logic.
You can compare all of the US to just a suburb of Paris, if you insist on making stupid comparisons, but lumping all member states into one monolith is pointless both ways. Oregon is incredibly different from Florida, and so is France from Romania
Sure. But Occitaine is also incredibly different to Normandie, so it'd be a fairer comparison.
Romania and France are different in a way that Oregon and Florida aren't. They have the same federal government, the same official language and relatively similar culture. Yeah, there are differences, and they can feel huge if you're in the western bubble, but differences like those are also found in other countries.
I will concede that the US is more ethnically or racially diverse than most parts of Europe, but that's about it. Saying that Oregon and Florida are as different to each other as France and Romania is, in my book, incredibly incorrect and it feels a bit insulting, though I can't out my finger on why exactly.
> Another thing that would help is if Europe stopped being so averse to new construction so that people could build new buildings with central AC that matches the current reality of its climate and demographics, rather than the climate and demographics of last millennium.
Agreed. I live in an apartment complex finished in 2020 and they have no provisions for AC, really not optimal. At least add provisions for holes so renters can easily install a mini split.
Even now planners are forcing people to build horrible ovens that make no accounting for heat. The planners in Ireland laughed when I talked about over heating in our self built house due to lack of eaves.
People don't value design that cools. Most all the spanish style houses you see in California, if you go back to photos from when they were built in the 1920s they all had awnings over all the windows. Those awnings are basically extinct now. Some people are even painting their buildings dark colors. They will chop down shade trees too in a quest for "natural light" aka heat they are now mitigating with a noisy central AC the whole neighborhood gets to listen to now. No one understands cross breeze and opening windows either. Just run up the AC.
I feel eaves are more to keep the drip line from rain from hitting the foundation than for any heat abatement. Typical spanish style roof will not have anything on the side that isn't sloping for example. Just sort of ends flush with the wall. Some don't have any eaves at all really.
Strange then then places with lots of rain and wind (Ireland, Netherlands come to mind) hate eaves. I guess it keeps builders in business.
Ironically when I had a 200 year old thatched cottage it had 'eaves' by virtue of the thatch extending almost a meter from the wall. It had built up slowly over centuries of rethatching.
My experience is mostly with Californian houses that definitely had eaves.
Just from some internet searching looks like in netherlands they use gutters extensively to move rain off the foundation. ireland too. the thatch houses it seems like they need to whitewash the masonry with limestone paint frequently that helps some.
Looks like the bottom row of masonry is actually failing here due to the rain damage and lack of upkeep on limestone paint. It will have to be repointed eventually.
Another thing with the califnornian spanish style home is the foundation is usually post and pier vs actual masonry exposed to a potential drip line. The one traditional californian design that tends to have eaves is the craftsman. I think it is a bit of an imported design from out east though, wasn't present in the mexican era. Some of these craftsman are on post and pier and don't really need them per say. But others actually have masonry foundations sometimes river rock foundations. I think there is also an aspect of venting the roof space through exposed rafter vents and you probably don't want water getting into unfinished wood.
When you look at even hotter climates, e.g. traditional adobe, no eaves there at all. Rafter beams just hanging out freely.
Being done here too (not Ireland): Right now, councils are approving, and builders are building, apartments/houses that are big square boxes with no eaves or shading, black synthetic cladding, and windows with safety stays that only allow them to open about 8cm so almost no cooling possible. The upper floors of these units are essentially uninhabitable during summer.
Such a scold-y attitude. Window air conditioning units work in any fully-openable window. They are $150CAD. Portable air conditioners work in almost every configuration of openable window. They are $250-500CAD.
It does take time, but it MOSTLY takes a shipment of small units to local retailers for normal lower-and-middle-class people to buy for the price of a month's worth of beer. Canada's economy is much smaller than the EU, yet somehow you can walk into a Walmart, Home Depot or Canadian Tire and buy a $150 air conditioner to install in your own home with 15-20 minutes of effort.
Canadian houses and older buildings are built to withstand winter and somehow we manage. We have a lot of 100 year old buildings (my house for example). Office buildings and hospitals are slightly more complicated, but I think Europe invented windows a long time ago
Window AC's don't really work with the styles of windows that are common here (at least in Finland). The windows typically swivel from the side, with multiple planes opening separately. They don't open vertically like in the US. This is also why window AC units are not sold here.
But getting a portable AC unit is relatively simple, they definitely don't need "re-engineering the environment". Sadly most portable AC's here are single-hose units which are not great. They are cheap though with prices similar to yours, cheapest at around €200. Mini-split systems are very common though as a retrofit: On apartments you can almost always put the outside unit on the balcony.
... actually works just fine. How do you think mass AC adoption in the US happened? Window units work just fine. Fancy splits and central ducting can come later.
Look at the population graph of a city like Las Vegas. It basically didn't exist before the invention of AC.
Window units don't work in most of Europe because our windows aren't compatible with them. If they were, I would have one.
And again, it doesn't solve the core cause. If you want to cool down your home, your first step should be to stop heat from entering. If you can get the same result from €900 of shades and €100 of AC as from €1000 of AC, you'd have to be stupid to go for an energy-guzzling AC-only approach.
I was under the same impression about window units till recently as well. However, I learned that there are units with hoses and foam seals that just require to put the window on tilt and then the hose goes out at the top and the surrounding area is sealed with the foam. Not as good as a minisplit but it works and is DIY.
Traditionally everyone had sash windows ("sliding windows") or casement windows ("swing open") made from wood. Nowadays sash windows are very expensive so almost everyone has casement windows, or even casement windows that look like sash windows, both constructed from UPVC. It's only in historic buildings people typically still install sash windows. I had to do that in my house because of it being a "conservation area" and it cost £14k for four timber double glazed sash windows! There are some UPVC sash windows now but they're pretty uncommon still.
I actually have a casement AC window unit. Not sure if this is the same dimensions as a UK casement window. It is as if you took a window AC unit and made it vertical orientation. My window still slides up and blocks the remaining void, but I imagine it would work just fine if it swung out and you built a plexiglass or plywood cover. Maybe you can also unscrew the swinging window and put it away in a closet.
The AC unit is a little different than "traditional" window units. There is no slot or anything really to grab on to the window or the sill. It is mainly secured by a brace that is also not screwed into anything really, just directing the weight of the external portion of the unit into the side of the exterior wall.
The single hose units work. They have a lot of downsides though. They are heavy, loud and require a supply of fresh air. That means that your either do not block the window completely and draw hot air in, thus reducing the available cooling capacity of the unit, or seal the window and the unit will create low pressure area in your home and draw the air from elsehwere (via other leaking doors, windows or even bathroom fans - which can be a bit smelly).
tl;dr If you are considering a portable AC unit, try to get a dual hose one, or save for a mini/multi split.
Though I fully agree a passive heat prevention solution is better, for my house the number were: nice shades (that open and close electrically): 7K, AC unit that also functions as heater in winter allowed the central heater to remain off foor all but 2 days this winter: 1800 (including installation). I used to hate AC's, and kinda still do hate the how they look. But I am pretty happy so sit in a 25 deg living room when it is 35 outside. And the AC runs on my own solar, I have plenty anyways
> Window units don't work in most of Europe because our windows aren't compatible with them.
They'd be more compatible with AC if not required by law to be incompatible. Places like NYC and Boston weren't built with AC either and adopted the technology just fine.
I've got a concentric dual hose unit from Midea that I use in emergencies when my central unit is out. I just put the hose through the dog flap on the back door when I run it. I'm sure you could figure out a solution if you actually wanted to be comfortable.
By switching from burning Russian hydrocarbons for heat to heat pumps so you can heat and cool while being more efficient? This isn't a rebuild, it is a moderate adaptation to the actual requirements to live in the Europe of today.
For steam based heat systems there is also cooling options, so that is a fix for those cities with central heat service.
Yeah, the outdoor units are quite often not quiet. Which matters with houses on small plots very close to each other. For that reason a water-water (earth-water) heat pump would be preferable as that's much more quiet but also much more expensive.
My nose simply doesn't work with it, I get an allergy-like reaction that never stops (non-allergic rhinitis), and my wife has the same issue, and many people I know too.
Rhinitis is not exactly a disease. It's just a matter of your body getting used to it. Most likely it disturbs existing dust. Also - does your house have proper ventilation system? In high co2 environments I get rhinitis too.
Did you ask them? Not even billions, did you ask at least a few thousand? Nobody complained? I know for a fact many people working in buildings with forced AC complain loudly.
But if you actually did read what I wrote, there was no complaint from me about the cooling part of the AC.
We have had heatwaves in Europe forever. The thing is people were used to adapting to them with shades and night/morning ventilation, and shifting their activities out of the hottest part of the day.
This somehow seems to be beyond today's population and society. How dare this weather impact my schedule!
This is the kind of ignorant comment we thankfully see less and less.
You can no longer shift your activities when the weather reaches 35C (95f) every day for weeks without noticeably cooling down in the night.
And even if activity shifting was possible, which again, it is not anymore, the authoritative, fatalistic poverty mindset required to demand that one does not actively cool during hot hours is a European mentality not many other cultures, if any, understand.
Where is the 'ignorance'? People have lived and trived in places with prolonged 35C stretches for millenia before airco.
I do not 'demand' you do the same. I just point out that there were options besides cancelling the meeting, some involved airco, LSE has airconditioned meeting rooms, admittedly without the gorgeous historic atmosphere, some didn't.
The ignorant part is claiming we have workable alternatives to AC. Now you one-up your previous statement by claiming people thrive(d) in these temperatures. Even if you had mistaken thrive for survive, it would still be incorrect, indicated by excess mortality during high temperatures.
I'd grant you that you didn't explicitly advocated for restrictive AC regulation, but I claim your dismissive attitude is implicitly part of the reason AC regulation remains restrictive.
People 'thrived', not just 'survived' in e.g. the Mediterranean long before AC.
I speculate the restriction on AC in that conference room is because it is a unique historic location they want to preserve, not some ideological anti-AC dogma.
Thing is that the median person used to be able to own a house with walls of relatively thick stone instead of being forced to live in bug nests designed for energy efficiency (mostly keeping heat, not warding it off) instead of human comfort.
Heat waves only became a serious problem in Europe in the last decade. The vast majority of buildings predate the need for air conditioning by several decades - and in plenty of cases by several centuries. The buildings are designed around being livable in a pre-climate-catastrophe climate without needing air conditioning - which is perfectly achievable if you aren't stupid enough to build a city in the middle of a desert.
Adapting all those buildings and streets will take time. Blindly putting AC everywhere and forcing everyone to drive from building to building in an ACed car isn't going to work, that kind of wasteful behavior is how we got into this situation in the first place. You need to redesign the heat management, and you need to start with things like mandating shades to prevent heat from entering buildings in the first place, and planting trees to avoid the heat island effect.
AC will indeed be needed to deal with the final heat peak when outside night temperature is in excess of 30C, but it isn't the one-size-fits-all solution for every heat-related problem it might seem at first glance. If your AC needs to run for more than a few days per year, you've seriously screwed up.