Last Updated on 22 minutes ago by TodayWhy Editorial
Why doesn’t Europe have air conditioning? As another brutal heatwave grips the continent, only about 20% of European homes have AC — compared to roughly 90% in the United States. It’s not an oversight. The gap comes down to old buildings, a climate that used to be milder, real money concerns, and, increasingly, a political fight over whether AC is even the right answer.
Why Doesn’t Europe Have Air Conditioning Already?
The simplest answer is that, until recently, most of Europe didn’t need it. Cooling experts at the International Energy Agency point out that European cities historically required so little cooling that building codes never planned for it in the first place. Mediterranean countries are the exception — nearly half of Italian homes now have AC — but in places like the UK and France, adoption has stayed in the single digits for decades, even as it has roughly doubled in the UK over the past three years amid hotter summers.
Why Old European Buildings Make AC Harder to Add
A huge share of Europe’s housing stock predates air conditioning entirely. In England, one in six homes was built before 1900 — constructed to trap heat through long, cold winters, not release it during summer extremes. Retrofitting that kind of building with central cooling is possible but expensive and disruptive, and in France, building researchers estimate that roughly half of the existing housing stock fails to meet the overheating standards now required for new construction. Cost compounds the problem: European energy prices tend to run higher than in the US, while incomes are often lower, making both the unit and the electricity bill a tougher sell.
Why Some European Politicians Are Against Widespread AC
Air conditioning has become a genuine political flashpoint in parts of Europe, and France is the clearest example. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has called for a national rollout of air conditioning as a public-health priority. Her far-left rival Jean-Luc Mélenchon has taken the opposite position, arguing that AC is a stopgap that worsens the underlying problem and that the real fix is better building insulation. Researchers at France’s Scientific and Technical Centre for Building broadly agree insulation matters — but note that vulnerable settings like hospitals still need reliable cooling regardless of the wider policy debate.
Why More AC Could Make European Heatwaves Worse
Here’s the uncomfortable part: air conditioning can backfire at a city-wide scale. Climate researchers at the European Environment Agency note that AC units don’t destroy heat, they move it — venting warm air from indoors into the street, which intensifies the urban heat island effect in already-dense cities. “Air conditioning… basically transports heat from the buildings to the urban environment,” as one EEA climate risk expert put it. And when the electricity powering those units comes from a fossil-fuel-heavy grid, AC adoption can add to the very warming driving the heatwaves in the first place. Heat can also cut the other way: lower river flows reduce cooling water for nuclear plants, and weaker wind reduces turbine output, squeezing the power supply exactly when AC demand peaks.
Why the EU Is Cautious About a Full AC Rollout
Beyond the urban-heat-island problem, there’s a regulatory one. The EU is working to phase out hydrofluorocarbons — the refrigerant chemicals used in most AC units — by 2050 because of their own climate impact, which makes Brussels reluctant to actively promote a continent-wide AC buildout even as demand rises. That tension isn’t going away: the International Energy Agency projects the number of AC units in the EU could more than double by 2050, reaching roughly 275 million, even without an explicit policy push.
For more on what’s driving the underlying heat itself, see our explainer on why Europe keeps breaking heat records in 2026.
FAQ
What percentage of European homes have air conditioning?
About 20%, according to International Energy Agency data, compared to roughly 90% of US homes. Adoption varies widely by country — nearly 50% in Italy, but still in the single digits in the UK as of recent estimates.
Is air conditioning bad for the climate?
It can be, in two ways: AC units typically use refrigerants called hydrofluorocarbons, which the EU is phasing out, and when powered by fossil-fuel electricity, increased AC use adds to the emissions driving climate change.
Can air conditioning make a heatwave worse in cities?
Yes, to a degree. AC units expel heat outdoors, which can intensify the urban heat island effect in dense cities, making outdoor temperatures even higher even as indoor spaces cool down.
Why is air conditioning politically controversial in France?
French politicians are split on whether to prioritize AC rollout or building insulation as the main response to worsening heatwaves, with the debate often falling along left-right political lines.