French Hostility to Air Conditioning Is Melting Away Amid a Record Heat Wave | Hundreds dead already (drowning, strokes)
Posted by Used-Earth8767
French Hostility to Air Conditioning Is Melting Away Amid a Record Heat Wave | Hundreds dead already (drowning, strokes)
Posted by Used-Earth8767
4 Comments
French people have long opposed air conditioning and view it as right wing coded. With this heat wave though, demand for AC has skyrocketed.
The far-left in france still opposes AC and says we need to plant more trees. I personally think its very bad the french left has positioned a good thing (AC) with the far-right
https://reddit.com/link/otyqiqu/video/5ns10seiqn9h1/player
French policemen during this heatwave:
https://preview.redd.it/yj38433ern9h1.png?width=599&format=png&auto=webp&s=9322cef41b9ae319763e5d8c9220bb2478d2af80
Drowning?
It seems to me like the obvious answer for old buildings is air-to-air heat pumps (I know air-to-water is more common in Europe). Any additional CO2 caused by using it as an air conditioner in the summer is likely more than offset by the reduction over a gas or oil furnace when heating in the winter.
Additionally, they can be more easily installed in buildings without central air. Mini split systems are becoming super common here in New England where the housing stock is old and most don’t have central air. It’s not uncommon even in larger buildings occupied by businesses or offices or whatever to find them; my doctor’s office is in an older building that only has central air in part of it and has mini splits in the waiting rooms. It’s a pretty straightforward retrofit that homeowners and businesses will probably happily pay for themselves if France is willing to simplify the level of permitting to make it fast and easy.