We are indeed living in more comfortable homes. Americans are migrating to the sunbelt because of ample AC in the summer and the winters are pleasant. that’s a big part of why we have many fewer heat deaths per capita than Europe: https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/2025/08/02/opinion-us-heat-...

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Aurornis 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

You don’t realize how nice it is to live and work in air conditioned spaces until visiting a part of Europe where AC is viewed with disdain for reasons I still don’t understand.

Also the move to electric heat pumps is increasing electricity rates but reducing natural gas usage and improving overall efficient.

The GP comment was trying to do snarky doomerism but accidentally hit upon a lot of truths. It’s amazing how many things are getting better but some people are hell bent on being cynical about it anyway.

	▲	some-guy 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I’m not from Europe but those sentiments I think are changing with the recent intensity and frequency of heat waves.
	▲	buckle8017 44 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> You don’t realize how nice it is to live and work in air conditioned spaces until visiting a part of Europe where AC is viewed with disdain for reasons I still don’t understand. Most of Europe is poor. AC is expensive. It's actually that simple. There's AC in Switzerland.

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adventured 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Europe is so backwards when it comes to annual heat deaths that they manage to have more heat deaths per year than the US has gun deaths + heat deaths combined. You won't hear about that from Europeans though, it'd make them seem barbaric. 175,000 heat deaths per year in Europe according to the WHO. It's a staggering genocide of technological primitiveness. Imagine having millions of people die because you can't be bothered to adopt 1950s technology (and of course I'm aware of the things the US is backwards on).

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laurencerowe 18 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

I think it is simply because in most of Europe air conditioning is unnecessary for comfort 95% of the year. Here in San Francisco most homes don't have air conditioning either, but there might be a week or two where it gets very hot and we just put up with the barbaric technological primitiveness.

Much of the US is extremely unpleasant without air-conditioning for a substantial portion of the year so of course everyone living in those parts installs it.

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microtonal an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think there wasn't a culture of buying ACs, because in most of Europe the climate was much more moderate. The summers are much hotter now than when I was a kid and heat waves are more regular. Many more people are buying air conditioning now.

Much of the US already had warmer summers than Europe when the impact of climate change was smaller, so AC is far more common.

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rpdillon an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You sent me to the books because this is such a fascinating stat. It's true! Heat deaths in the US: 5 per million people. Italy: 500+ per million people. I had no idea.

	▲	laurencerowe 10 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Figures based on coroners reports are somewhat suspect. > In September 2022, a vicious heat wave enveloped much of the western U.S., placing tens of millions of people under heat advisories. Temperatures across California soared into the triple digits. Sacramento broke its heat record by more than 6 degrees Fahrenheit when the temperature hit 116 degrees. > California death certificates showed that 20 people died as a result of heat-related illness from Aug. 31, 2022 to Sept. 9, 2022. > But a study last year by California’s Department of Public Health found that death rates increased by about 5 percent statewide during the heat wave, causing 395 additional deaths. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-deaths-from-h... Excess mortality studies seem to show about 24 per 100,000 excess deaths from heat in Europe vs 6 in US/Canada. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34245712/
	▲	CorrectHorseBat an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I do think we'll need to change our view on airconditioning, every home should have airconditioning just like it has heating. But I'm very sceptical of those numbers. They are apparently even worse for cold, and you can't attribute that to lack of airconditioning. I still think the huge difference can only be attributed to a difference in reporting.

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rdn 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Can their pension system afford A/C?