Why Germans don't have air conditioning
Unlike the US or parts of Asia, many homes in Germany and northern Europe aren't equipped to deal with extreme heat. But as the world
Unlike the US or parts of Asia, many homes in Germany and northern Europe aren't equipped to deal with extreme heat. But as the world gets hotter, trends are changing. In countries like the United States, Australia and Japan, the hot, sticky summer months are made bearable by the blast of chilled air provided by a humming air conditioner. But across large parts of Europe, the solution is often decidedly low-tech: shut the shades, fire up the fan and keep plenty of ice water within reach. Around 90% of people living in the US have air conditioning at home, according to the US Department of Energy. In Europe, which has a similar climate, that figure is only about 20%, though it does vary across the continent. In a sunny southern country like Spain, around half of households have cooling, while in Germany it's around just 6%. There's a good reason for that. Until recently, air conditioning wasn't seen as a necessity in many European countries, especially in the north. Summers have always been hot — what's changed? Hotter weather was always a part of summer in Europe, but now extreme heat waves — persistent high temperatures that endanger infrastructure, ecosystems and human health — are quickly becoming the norm. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has shown that extreme heat events are rising faster than climate models predicted, especially in western Europe. In Paris, where the temperature was over 40 degrees Celsius this week, many are turning to fans and shade Image: Tom Nicholson/REUTERS A recent analysis from ClimaMeter, a European research partnership analyzing extreme weather events, revealed temperatures in June 2026 were around 2 to 4 degrees Celsius (3.6 to 7.2 Fahrenheit) warmer than they would have been under similar conditions during the late 20th century. These dangerous conditions are "driving surges in electricity demand for cooling," said Tommaso Alberti, an Italian researcher affiliated with ClimaMeter, in a statement.
Demand for air conditioners and cooling units in Germany rose by 75% between 2019 and 2024 — the warmest year on record. Eurovent, the industry association for heating, ventilation, cooling and refrigeration, has also noticed a "steady" growth rate in recent years. Despite this trend, resistance to air conditioning persists in Europe, said Stijn Renneboog, Eurovent's deputy secretary general. "In tips on how to stay cool circulating on social media, I still see advice to avoid the use of air conditioning," he told DW in an email. "Cooling is still too often written off as a luxury," he said, adding that hot conditions pose a serious public health risk. "There are tens of thousands of heat-related deaths in Europe every year." European homes not built for heat, or AC Most Europeans feel their homes do not help them stay them cool during the summer. Many houses and apartments in Germany and other parts of northern Europe were designed to keep heat in during colder months, but not for maximum cooling when it gets hot. One recent study found that nearly half of respondents across the EU turned to improved shading and insulation to ward off heat. But many are also now considering air conditioners. In Madrid, Spaniards find novel ways to escape the heat To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "The days of low AC penetration in Europe are coming to an end," said Helge Brinkmann, an associate director at the Boston Consulting Group specializing in green energy and the environment, in a September 2025 industry analysis. Installing air conditioning in older European housing can be a challenge. "While cooling technology is easily built into new residential and commercial properties, it's less straightforward to retrofit existing infrastructure," said the analysis. Major renovations can allow for the installation of new systems, but historic cities across Europe often have "additional regulatory and aesthetic hurdles to overcome." In addition, many tenants are prevented from installing cooling units in their rental homes by restrictive rules, or are unwilling to make major investments in someone else's property.
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