Europe Is Hot as Hell. Why Doesn’t It Want Air Conditioning?

**Ryan Knutson** (0:05)
This summer, Europe has been really hot. Hotter than usual.

**Matthew Dalton** (0:10)
From Paris to Madrid to London, locals and tourists are scrambling to stay cool.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:15)
There are soaring temperatures with heat alerts and public health measures in place in many countries.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:21)
Severe heat wave continues to batter us here in France with temperatures hovering once again across much of the country at around 40 degrees Celsius.

**Ryan Knutson** (0:31)
Europe has reached a boiling point, perhaps.

**Matthew Dalton** (0:34)
Yeah, it's reached a sweating point, definitely. Everyone is sweating.

**Ryan Knutson** (0:40)
Our colleague Matthew Dalton has been covering the heat wave from Paris where he lives. What's the weather been like there in Paris?

**Matthew Dalton** (0:47)
It's been exceptionally hot. It's been hotter than I've ever experienced since I moved to Europe nearly two decades ago. I think a lot of people are suffering. It's just kind of miserable.

**Ryan Knutson** (1:00)
Temperatures in Paris recently hit about 104 degrees Fahrenheit. That's only happened on three other days since they began keeping records.
The weather is like normally awkward small talk, but here it's actually relevant.

**Matthew Dalton** (1:16)
Yeah, it's like, how's the weather? That's the big news these days.

**Ryan Knutson** (1:19)
One reason this is such big news in Europe is because the continent doesn't have nearly as much air conditioning as the US.

**Matthew Dalton** (1:26)
It depends where you are in the continent. In southern Europe, there tends to be more air conditioning. Obviously, it's hotter.
In Italy, it's around 56%, 57% of households have air conditioning. In France, a quarter of households have air conditioning. In the UK, it's around 5%.

**Ryan Knutson** (1:41)
Why not just get AC?

**Matthew Dalton** (1:43)
Well, there's a lot more demand for AC right now, I would say, but there are a lot of obstacles to installing it in the continent.

**Ryan Knutson** (1:53)
Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business and power. I'm Ryan Knutson, it's Tuesday, July 7th.
Coming up on the show, Europe is hot as hell. Why doesn't it want AC?

**SPEAKER_5** (2:22)
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**Ryan Knutson** (2:58)
You are from the US., I can tell by your accent, or I will make the assumption.

**Matthew Dalton** (3:03)
Yep, grew up in New York City.

**Ryan Knutson** (3:05)
Matt has lived in Europe for nearly two decades, and every time he comes back to America in the summer, he's always a little taken aback by how strong the AC is.

**Matthew Dalton** (3:14)
When I visit my family in the US and we're staying in the same place, at night it's like maybe 72 degrees, 75 degrees, and yet I hear their air conditioning just like rattling away. I'm like, I mean, come on, guys. It's like, it's not that hot out, please.
I was back home recently in New York and I went to the supermarket next to my mother's house and I was just like shivering. It was so cold.

**Ryan Knutson** (3:39)
There's a clerk that works at one of my local grocery stores who all summer long is bundled up. Like she's wearing a winter coat and a beanie because it's so cold in there.

**Matthew Dalton** (3:47)
I mean, I think that's a common thing that Europeans have when they come to the United States is just marveling.

**Ryan Knutson** (3:52)
Oh, this is glorious.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:55)
Absolutely glorious.

**Ryan Knutson** (3:57)
It's like stepping into a fridge. Living the dream.

**Matthew Dalton** (4:02)
The thought of American air conditioning sends shivers literally through a lot of Europeans for several reasons.

**Ryan Knutson** (4:11)
For a long time, most of Europe didn't need air conditioning because Europe's climate has generally been cooler with more mild summers.

**Matthew Dalton** (4:19)
The main concern for Europeans has been keeping warm in the winter, not staying cool in the summer.

**Ryan Knutson** (4:25)
When it did get hot, a lot of European buildings had a simple solution. Window shutters.
At night, you open the windows and shutters to let the cool air in. And then when the sun rises in the morning, you shut them and block out the sun.

**Matthew Dalton** (4:39)
It works quite well. And then when the sun goes down or when the sun is no longer shining on that part of your residence, you can open the shutters.