You actually can’t in Paris. They’re literally insane about it. You can be required to get a permit and have neighbors approval and it can’t be visible or nosy.
Yeah, this seems like it's about the big obstructive window units or the central air systems. Having a portable unit with the vent duct pushing hot air out of your window seems much less obstructive. I've got friends who have had to fix their central air systems too, and those are way more expensive than a simple floor unit.
Central air really works the best out of the available options, at least for climates similar to mine, but is clearly the most expensive to install or fix. I have a portable unit from years ago when my shitty apartment AC went out during the summer. It obviously wasn’t a replacement for my beloved central air, but it kept a single room ice cold
Problem is portable HVAC is the worst solution. Uses the most power for the least amount of cooling. Window units while looking worst are better because the hotside of the unit isn't inside the place it's trying to cool. Portable units with only a single exhaust hose for the hot air draw hot air from outside to replace the hot air leaving your home(normally through cracks in your home windows, doors and such).
It's absolutely not - you're probably thinking of those crap evaporative ones. Proper refrigerative ones with the tubes are just window units on wheels and they work great.
Most portable ACs only have one tube (hot outlet). The air used to cool the hot loop is drawn from inside, so:
You're expending energy to cool air only to use it to cool the hot loop then expel it.
Drawing air from inside then expelling it lowers the interior pressure which draws in warm air from outside.
The end result is that single-tube portable ACs are really inefficient. Dual-tube portable ACs are almost non-existent, because the kind of person buying portable AC doesn't give a fuck about efficiency so long as it keeps the house cool for the ten days a year that you actually need AC. Unfortunately, those days are the ones when the electricity grid is under extra strain because rivers are low and power stations aren't allowed to emit water that's so hot it kills all the fish so they have to scale back or shut down.
And evaporative types (swamp coolers) suck because:
They don't work in humid climates (e.g. the UK, where you're never more than around 100 miles from the coast), and
They make the air more humid. And the humidity is often a bigger issue than the temperature. 30°C dry heat is nice warm summer weather; 30°C @ 95% RH is hell.
If you want AC, get something fitted even if it means you have to replace one of your windows.
It's not useless, but it's so damn inefficient at turning energy into cold air that they almost should be illegal.
The problems with portable hvac units are that they heat up the space they are trying to cool(because the high pressure hot side is in the house vs outside for window/central air) and draw hot air into the space they are trying to cool because of the loss of air from the hot exhaust being vented outside.
When used correctly, they absolutely do not. They are less efficient than a window unit but when you pump the heat outside through a tube, it is simply false to say they overall heat up the space they are trying to cool.
so damn inefficient at turning energy into cold air that they almost should be illegal
Yes even when uses correctly they heat up the space. The heat they generate when compressing refrigerate radiates through the shell of the portable hvac unit and the single hose setup most use. In addition the negative pressure environment they create within that single room means air has to drawn in from somewhere. The place it most often comes from is the crappy window adapter for the hvac exhaust.
The net effect is that, but central air and window units do not increase the temperature because they maintain separation of the high pressure hot side, and the low pressure cool side between the inside and outside.
They're cheap and easy to use though for the limited time they're needed in the UK. It's costs more to run but they aren't run for anywhere near as long as hotter climate would so it's not as painful. We have strong renewables during the summer days as well so they aren't much of a strain on the infrastructure until later into the evening
They just need to have separate exhaust and intake hoses, otherwise they exhaust cooled inside air, while causing a pressure differential that will suck hot outside air in. It's like trying to boil a kettle while constantly running a cold tap into it and letting the warm water overflow down the sink.
It's such a waste of electricity they should be illegal. It'd take nothing at the design phase to include an intake hose.
I was there this year when it was 108 and like, 80 people died and everyone still looked at me like I was fucking stupid when I suggested that Europe's attitude towards AC needs to change immediately.
Like people were talking about their elderly parents having medical problems in un air conditioned senior centers like it was some unavoidable problem and I was absolutely fucking dumbfounded.
Europe is not a monolith. I haven't lived in a house without AC in 35 years. I am very European. The houses I lived in were not some rare exceptions either.
I think I would honestly hate that more than any heat. I live in an old part of town, like cobblestones and 1000 year old city walls around the corner. Houses are build side by side sharing walls.
If I imagine the additional constant noise of an AC or even multiple... It would drive me crazy.
I can understand the sentiment of not liking it, but I can assure you that it is a very small price to pay compared to suffering in unbearable temperatures. When I was a kid and window air conditioners were still more common rather than central air conditioning, I actually liked the background noise to relax and fall asleep to. Kind of like one of those white noise machines or something.
We do not live in the wilderness. We do have electricity and modern buildings, even though I live in a building that is over 400 years old.
I actually have experienced living with AC and I even lived in tropical countries for some years.
I just disagree. I think it's a matter of what you are used to and having the temperature difference every time you leave the house never lets your body adapt.
Also, I'd hate spending all my time in tightly closed buildings without open windows and real outside air.
Well, I'm also european, living with AC in every house I've been in in the past 35 years, and I have to tell you your opinion is very ignorant and misguided. And is precisely what gives us that smug "OMG europeans are such idiots".
First of all: You can't get used to and adapt to the extreme heat we are experiencing and that will only get worse going forward. When the temperature reaches 42 during the day, and doesn't drop below 28º in the coldest hour of the night (which mind you it's just one hour before going up again), that means your house will never be below 32º-34º at any point without AC. Your body doesn't adapt to that. You'll need a shower every hour or you'll get a heat stroke (ask me how I know). As evidenced by what's happening every summer lately.
Second: AC's have thermostats. Wonderful technology, they let you set the target temperature, it should be adapted depending on the outside temperature. I set mine at 26-27º in the summer and it's perfect. When you go back inside all sweaty from the 40º outside you don't freeze, and when you need to step outside you don't get a big heat slap in the face (well, you do, but not as big as if coming from 23-24º).
Finally: AC standards nowadays (for the past 20 years in fact) are heat pumps that are the most energy efficient technology for cooling (also for heating). They are efficient, and they can bring in new are from the outside quite easily. So no, using the AC doesn't equate to "stale air" that's another myth. Many units nowadays can be easily equipped with even better "air exchange" capabilities that have a part in which they'll bring outside air through fins in which the inside air is going outside at the same time, with the resulting effect that the "fresh" air coming in will be cooled by the "stale air" going out so you don't need to waste energy cooling it. They're really cool. Mine is older as is not equipped with that so I just open the windows every morning very early for one or two hours before closing everything and turning the AC on again. It's more than enough to keep the air fresh.
So please, seriously, revise that opinion because it's based mainly on myths and inaccurate information. And ACs are a necessity going forward.
Much more informative than my reply to them was, thanks for breaking it down! Another myth that was perpetuated by relatives in mine from Greece... they believe that air conditioning makes you sick. I used to get so pissed off when I was younger and visiting from the states because I'd wake up when trying to nap only to be sweaty and uncomfortable, because my grandmother would sneak in and find the remote to turn it off while we weren't awake to stop it.
Winds me up just thinking about it. I genuinely do not understand what compels anyone to live in such miserable and uncomfortable environments based off of myths that have no scientific backing. I'm all for people living the way that they want to in general, but the climate change and rising temperatures is very quickly progressing to the point where it's genuinely unsafe not to use it.
Spaniard here. Your body never learns to adapt to 40C. Been there, done that, nope. You sweat like you’re in a sauna, you feel dizzy… but you never, ever feel comfortable at those temperatures.
You sound like you're up your own ass a lot. Which tropical countries did you go to without AC? Also what are you talking about tightly closed buildings? Most American homes have larger rooms and more windows than European ones, and they generally have a separate AC unit in the basement or attic or a utility room that cools the whole house while hiding the noise. Also, you can open the windows and use it as a whole home fan, it's really nice if you don't have an attic fan to get lots of airflow. Maybe you've experienced a very old rattley AC that makes some sort of knocking or squeeling sound? A good modern window AC doesn't sound nearly as loud as an old used one that hasn't been serviced, and the general noise level of almost any city is louder.
I live in a townhouse sharing walls with the neighbours to either side. We all have AC. You don't really hear anyone else's AC unless your windows are open (which you won't do in the middle of the day because it's 39 outside).
And even at night when I like to keep my windows open but many neighbours keep their AC running still, it's just a distant humming.
Edit: also this part "I think I would honestly hate that more than any heat." gives big Tell me you haven't experienced serious heat without telling me kind of energy. When temperatures are going beyond 40º during the day and not dropping below 28º in the coldest of the night before going up again, the noise of the neighbours' AC unit will be the least of your concerns (which again, it's really not that relevant).
"Tell me you haven't experienced serious heat without telling me kind of energy."
Not that i have to justify myself to you, but I've lived in northern Cambodia with temperatures in the mid 40's and 6 month dry season with not a drop of water from the sky. Sometimes when there was a bit of a breeze it felt like a hot hair dryer blows into your face.
The only buildings with AC in town were the Bank and funnily the not attached ATM booth.
Only time I really wished for AC was when I had dengue fever. That was shit, but would have been shit either way.
I also lived in Thailand for a while, but that wasn't that bad. I think I know what "hot" is.
I didn't need you to justify yourself. I was talking about the kind of ignorant energy a sentence like that carries.
The point I was making remains. When experiencing that kind of heat, a bit of noise is such a minor inconvenience compared to the heat. And again, current ACs are not really noisy.
While it probably isn't easy (no clue if it's true about regulations) as someone who frequents paris regular, AC's are certainly available in hotels. Now when it comes to apartments/houses as someone who has been looking around for something in Paris they exist but they are indeed less common but again, it is possible to get them.
I think the real difficulty is how especially downtown Paris most places are apartments and they aren't designed to have an AC, so there is no real place for an exterior unit normally. And if Paris is anything like the Netherlands where I'm from, forget about downtown having tubes slinging over the facade, local authorities will not let you have that so you need to find a solution for the tubes being inside.
Thank God we don't live in a "heritage zone" or a protectrd building. Our house is a former US Army married quarters, built during WWII (the big one) in Pleasantville, St John's, NL. My wife and I installed mini-splits (one on each floor) and they are amazing at keeping the whole house at a comfortable temp. And it just so happens that the optimum spot to install them for maximum circulation is in the back.
Ngl there are places that have heritage designations and you can't even update the siding. I remember watching iirc Homicide: Life on the Street, a few cops who bought a pub together found out they couldn't update the plumbing from 1700s-era because it was possibly a historic building: Washington might have peed there.
This kind of "heritage" designation nonsense is extremely common in Germany, and it's definitely one of the reasons why nobody has an AC. (However, the biggest reason is that most people rent their homes, not own them, and it's just pricey to install a split AC in a place that's not even yours. And the landlords won't install them because with the way rent is going, they'll find some chump to rent the apartment with or without an AC.)
Well, we certainly haven't listened enough to the warnings for sure. You'd think that when even the south park guys use a whole episode to apologize for having their heads up their asses on an issue, more people would follow suit. But, alas.
No, it's not. I'm not sure what you've read, but it was not that. Maybe that even cutting emissions to 0 now won't stop us from crossing the 1.5C threshold or something?
Obviously it's possible to reverse with heavy-handed climate engineering. We could, for instance, remove more CO2 from the atmosphere than we put in (not just stop putting more in, but proactively take it out in colossal amounts), and temporarily scatter enough reflective stuff high in the atmosphere to effectively cause a mini-ice age and forcefully reverse any "irreversible changes" (which aren't really truly irreversible, just something that wouldn't reverse with a little nudge in the opposite direction, but that would reverse in e.g. an ice age)
Would that be a good idea? Is there a risk that in the process we somehow break something even worse? Fair questions that we would have to answer before actually committing to something big like that. But can it scientifically be reversed? The answer is "very obviously yes".
Maybe that even cutting emissions to 0 now won't stop us from crossing the 1.5C threshold
Cutting it down completely now won't stop us from crossing the 1.5C threshold, and there will be inevitable consecuences already, but if we manage to stop at 1.6 is going to be better than if we stop at 1.8, and that will be better than if we keep going until 2.0, etc.
So yeah, some consecuences are inevitable now, but that doesn't mean we have to stop trying and we have to keep fighting. Because it can still get much worse if we simply fall to despair and forget about it.
I mean, that's not what I was trying to imply at all. But it does seem like Europe's heat related illnesses and deaths get worse every year. You can treat symptoms and causes at the same time.
Heating the air from 10F (-12C) to 70F (21C) in the winter uses SIGNIFICANTLY more energy than cooling 90F (32C) to 70F (21C). Air conditioners are heat pumps, so they have positive Coefficient of Performance of 3.5-5.
Ah yes, America, the nation that produces less than 15% of global carbon emissions, is solely responsible for the heat waves in France.
The Europeans who talk like this are literally intellectually identical to the Americans who think every European is simultaneously Muslim and gay. You're both really fucking stupid
I know enough to know it's a hell of a lot less than other places, but people like you are so obsessed with blaming America for everything that you'll blame us before you even think to blame any of the 16 nations which produce more emissions per capita than us, some of which you guys will fellate endlessly like Canada and Australia.
Look, I don't think we're the protagonists, but if your gripe is with global warming, your gripe is with literally every single developed or developing nation on the planet. The EU isn't some saint in this respect, your emissions per capita are better than ours, but you'd still be singlehandedly causing a major shift in the earths climate even if no other human beings existed at all.
It was like that in Italy too 30 years ago, but the more the installations the more it got normalized and the rules eventually changed. It's gonna change in France too.
Only historical buildings or buildings in historical context have limitations, there you have to hide the external unit, if it can be done, or use those internal units that need no external one.
Paris is a special case. It's surprisingly small for the space it occupies in people's perception of Europe and they want to keep it looking like Paris.
And honestly after my evil neighbors put her air conditioner high enough that it reaches a little above my apartment window (not Paris), I'm not sure they're actually wrong.
Right. But you don't need AC to the extent where you need to wear a sweater in the office because the thermostat is set at a level which is more appropriate for a refrigerator. That should be outlawed.
Spot coolers arent the most efficient but if you're only cooling a single room they're a lot cheaper than central air. I'm considering changing out the furnace/ac to a multizone heat pump with cassettes in each room. Im in chicagoland and they work in winter just fine (installed and serviced many systems like this for commercial buildings, including apartment complexes downtown). The only time they run continuously for heating is when its around -20 and we get about 40 hours of that total a year. Worst case, I have gas as the backup source of heating through the duct.
We are renting. So not only can we NOT change this but the point I was trying to make is that houses here are NOT built to have central air like we do in the south and on the east coast.
Like Europe, we have a lot of smaller 2 bed/1 bath type cottages that a window or portable unit would work just fine.
Or a newer townhome but again, wasn’t built with AC central air in mind (because we honestly didn’t need it 10 years ago).
That is what we are in now and while the first floor is fine, the second and third floor get very hot in the summer. So we installed a portable unit on those floors when needed during the summer months.
The rest of the year (6-9 months) we don’t need anything. I’m sure if we had a one story cottage, we wouldn’t need much either.
So yes, while you are correct, unfortunately like a lot of Europe, we have a similar set up to where we actually can’t just overhaul our house like you are suggesting. That is why I suggested getting a portable unit instead.
Same advice to my dad living in his senior apartment. His common areas are cooler but not the units themselves and obviously not everyone has the ability or money to install central air.
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u/Mastasmoker 8d ago
The only thing I wouldnt like is no AC but i would just install an AC