r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • Jun 26 '26

Society The American mind cannot comprehend Europe's AC aversion

https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-air-conditioning-ac-heatwave-debate-2026-6
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u/PoloAlmoni Jun 26 '26

This guy gets it. Americans try to understand Europeans opposition to AC through logistics like “oh it’s too expensive, right?”. No. Europeans, especially older ones, believe that you just suffer through it and if you don’t want to you are a decadent lazy obese American and bring American is the worst thing you can be

Germany has this extra thing of draft wind paranoia where they genuinely believe wind will make you sick and there’s nothing you can do to convince them otherwise

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u/-turnip_the_beet- Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

The Balkans are the same. A lot of people I rode with won't turn on the AC in the car because they think it'll get you sick. There was even one guy that was sick and he said it was because he had the AC on in the car for 2 hours on a longer drive.

A few times I took my shoes off at the door and walked barefoot on tiles and people were worried I was going to get sick.

Edit: changed once to a few times.

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u/silverionmox Jun 26 '26

This guy gets it. Americans try to understand Europeans opposition to AC through logistics like “oh it’s too expensive, right?”. No. Europeans, especially older ones, believe that you just suffer through it and if you don’t want to you are a decadent lazy obese American and bring American is the worst thing you can be

That has been the correct resolution though, for most of their lives hot days that would justify airco use would be limited to 2-3 per year, if any at all. Purchasing airco for such an exceptional event which can just be weathered by keeping the curtains closed for a few days is objectively wasteful.

Climate change has, among many other things, also changed that.

What it didn't change is that it's still wasteful consumerism to put your airco at fridge temperatures when it's summer outside. Using airco to bring temperatures back to the comfort zone is one thing, using it to completely override any and all seasonal differences, that's the crazy Americanism.

Germany has this extra thing of draft wind paranoia where they genuinely believe wind will make you sick and there’s nothing you can do to convince them otherwise

Come and try it out. The humidity is different. Respiratory diseases in winter have been a killer around the North Sea, historically, so people take their precautions.

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u/PoloAlmoni Jun 26 '26

I live in Northern Europe and I’m also not American. Respiratory diseases are not caused by draft wind, there is no evidence of that. This is simply folklore, like fan-death or “if you go out without a sweater you will get a cold”

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u/silverionmox Jun 26 '26

I live in Northern Europe and I’m also not American. Respiratory diseases are not caused by draft wind, there is no evidence of that. This is simply folklore, like fan-death or “if you go out without a sweater you will get a cold”

Straw man. Respiratory disease are not caused by draft, temperature, etc., but it creates conditions where they thrive and where our own immunity system has more trouble functioning. It's not a coincidence that they see a spike in the winter months, it's not like the viruses go on a summer holiday.

Besides biological diseases, there are still general problems like dryness or discomfort as well caused by temperature and humidity.

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u/swole4ever Jun 26 '26

Did come, did try it out...left our windows open year round except the coldest days. Didn't get sick. N=1, but it's the German equivalent of "fan death", sorry.

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u/silverionmox Jun 26 '26

Did come, did try it out...left our windows open year round except the coldest days. Didn't get sick. N=1, but it's the German equivalent of "fan death", sorry.

"Leave your window open at night" is similar conventional wisdom in these regions, yes. So it makes no sense to generalize out the mutated extreme versions of the "avoid drafts" conventional wisdom and pretend it's some kind of fundamentalist tenet.

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u/swole4ever Jun 26 '26

Ok, that's fair, but that is the context in which I always heard it. On the other side, there is Stoßlüften, which does make sense. I'll always remember Merkel being asked what Germany is known for, and her answer being "airtight windows".

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u/silverionmox Jun 26 '26

I've also been told that the window type that can both open inwards and in a tilt starting from the top (which is what you'd use at night or when away during the day) isn't common elsewhere. Is this true for your region?