--- title: AC sales are heating up in Europe - The Hustle description: Europeans typically haven’t embraced at-home AC like Americans have. But now it’s really hot. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1730424782-HS-News-Brief_2022-07-29T014334.810Z.webp --- # AC sales are heating up in Europe ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: July 29, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 About 91% of US homes have air conditioning. But in Europe, it’s far less common. Why? ![AC sales are heating up in Europe](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1730424782-HS-News-Brief_2022-07-29T014334.810Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1730424782-HS-News-Brief_2022-07-29T014334.810Z.webp) **The climate: **It’s neither as hot nor as humid in many parts of Europe as it is in many parts of the US. - The UK is often dreary and damp — much like Seattle, where only [44%](https://usafacts.org/articles/91-of-households-nationwide-have-air-conditioning-44-of-those-in-seattle-do/) of US households are equipped with AC. (Conversely, in Greece, where summers get toasty, [99%](https://www.inaba-denko.com/en/news/200) of households *do* have AC.) **They don’t like it:** Cranking the AC can be seen as [wasteful](https://www.wsj.com/articles/germany-scorned-air-conditioningthen-it-got-really-hot-11561918952), and some Italians think it’s bad for your health. #### **But that could all change given recent heave waves** Amid record-breaking heat and wildfires across Europe, portable AC sales in Britain spiked 2.4k% in a week, [per](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/20/europe-uk-air-conditioning-ac/) *The Washington Post*. An International Energy Agency estimate sees AC units across the EU more than doubling from 110m in 2019 to 275m by 2050. #### **Of course, more energy use…** … leads to more emissions, leads to more climate woes. But Paul Hockenos, a Berlin-based author who covers renewable energy, suggests some more planet-friendly solutions, [including](https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/22/opinions/america-europe-air-conditioning-climate-hockenos/index.html): - Energy-efficient units - Passive cooling (opening windows at night, drawing shades by day - Geothermal cooling (which moves heat into the ground) - Switching to clean energy Then there’s [this guy](https://www.tiktok.com/@yourboymoyo/video/7121728532815809797?) who’s proposing Naked Day. 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