John

How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
place and people's homes?

Is it viewed as a luxury? or a "North American style" oddity, or just
another appliance that some people have and some don't.

thanks for any feedback (I'm serious in my question, not trying to provoke
any kind of trolling)
John.

Miss L.Toe

"John" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
    > place and people's homes?
    > Is it viewed as a luxury? or a "North American style" oddity, or just
    > another appliance that some people have and some don't.
    > thanks for any feedback (I'm serious in my question, not trying to provoke
    > any kind of trolling)
    > John.

Europe is a big place !! with generally the poorer countires being in the
south where they need air con more.

However, IME in the workplace it is now very common across Europe with only
maybe less then 5% of companies having it (But my experiance is generally
with larger companies, I guess smaller companies may tend not to have it).

In homes in the UK it is generally unheard of (and unnecessary apart from
maybe 2 or 3 days of the year when people would go outside anyway).

However it is starting to appear more often in cars in the UK.

Mark Hewitt

"John" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
    > place and people's homes?

In the UK.. can't comment about other countries.

It is virtually unheard of here. Some of the larger and more modern offices
have it. And in large stores it will often be integrated as part of the
environmental systems.

In peoples homes.. extremely rare. I don't know of anyone who has it. The
concentration is very definitely on heating, rather than cooling, as more
times than not - you need to warm the house up, rather than cool it down,
such is the climate in the UK. In the Summer, sufficient cooling can usually
be achieved by opening the windows.

Mark Hewitt

"Miss L.Toe" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > However it is starting to appear more often in cars in the UK.

Thats true. I've noticed (from hire companies anyway) it is present in all
models of cars in the USA. However it is an expensive extra with UK models.

Thomas Peel

"Miss L.Toe" schrieb:
    >
    > "John" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
    > > place and people's homes?
    > >
    > > Is it viewed as a luxury? or a "North American style" oddity, or just
    > > another appliance that some people have and some don't.
    > >
    > > thanks for any feedback (I'm serious in my question, not trying to provoke
    > > any kind of trolling)
    > > John.
    > >
    > >
    >
    > Europe is a big place !! with generally the poorer countires being in the
    > south where they need air con more.
    >
    > However, IME in the workplace it is now very common across Europe with only
    > maybe less then 5% of companies having it (But my experiance is generally
    > with larger companies, I guess smaller companies may tend not to have it).

I've been in a number of very new office blocks in Frankfurt and other
cities that did not have air-conditioning, and in conditions like the
summer of 2001 it was no fun, with temperatures up around 35c.

On the other hand, a lot of stores are air-conditioned. And it's getting
very common in cars.

Tom
    >
    > In homes in the UK it is generally unheard of (and unnecessary apart from
    > maybe 2 or 3 days of the year when people would go outside anyway).
    >
    > However it is starting to appear more often in cars in the UK.

Nhampton

"John" wrote in message news:...
    > How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
    > place and people's homes?
    >
    > Is it viewed as a luxury? or a "North American style" oddity, or just
    > another appliance that some people have and some don't.
    >
    > thanks for any feedback (I'm serious in my question, not trying to provoke
    > any kind of trolling)
    > John.

Living in Germany I can say they do not have AC in homes at all. The
workplaces also are mostly not air conditioned as well. The
restaurants and movie theaters are not air conditioned either. Hotels
generally are air conditioned at least the big modern ones. Smaller
older ones are not.

The houses and buildings have rolladen which are metal exterior window
covers that work like rolltop desks and disappear into the wall above
the window when open. They are moveable from inside via a weighted
strap. You can close them over your windows to keep out ALL the light
and it stays pretty cool like a cave because the walls of houses are
stone blocks and thick. These rolladen are also found on some office
building. Our building was automatic and when the sun hit the windows
the rolladen closed. pretty strange. also the windows on office
buildings can be opened unlike a lot of them in north america.

I will also say, heat was only a problem for 2 or 3 weeks in late July
and August.

Nancy

Barbara Vaughan

John wrote:
    >
    > How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
    > place and people's homes?
    >
    > Is it viewed as a luxury? or a "North American style" oddity, or just
    > another appliance that some people have and some don't.

I live in rural central Italy. Here, most offices have air conditioning.
It's really needed because of the heat produced by computers and other
office equipment. Most larger stores and many smaller shops have it.
It's quite common in cars. Very few homes have it. Although it can get
rather hot where I live, the humidity level tends to be low and it
usually cools considerably at night. When I go out in the evening I
always take a cotton sweater even in July and August, and often I wish I
had a jacket as well. There are maybe two or three nights in the average
summer when sleeping is uncomfortable.

Barbara

Luca Logi

John wrote:

    > How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
    > place and people's homes?
    >
    > Is it viewed as a luxury? or a "North American style" oddity, or just
    > another appliance that some people have and some don't.
    >
    > thanks for any feedback (I'm serious in my question, not trying to provoke
    > any kind of trolling)


Here in Italy we are feeling that the climate is slowly changing towards
a more tropical one, so now air conditioning is getting more widespread.
It is quite common in offices and some public places; less so in private
homes. For example, as I live in a old home with thick brick walls in
the centre of Florence, and I need it only in the room facing south,
exposed to rentless sun all day long during the summer. The rooms facing
north don't need it even in the hottest days (an Florence gets quite hot
in the summer).

Almost all car sold in the last two years have air conditioning, and it
is now quite difficult to sell an used car without ac at a decent price;
but of course a lot of older cars don't have it.

--
Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy e-mail: [email protected]

The Reid

Following up to John

    >How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
    >place and people's homes?

Theres no overall European pattern in this, or anything.
In UK hardly ever in home, now very common in cars. Fairly rare in
public buildings etc.
Spain, usual in hire cars, very common in hotels and restaurants. Its
after all hotter there.
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Fellwalking, photos, London & the Thames path "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk"
Spain, food and walking "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" (see web for email)

Les B. Avenue

John wrote:
    >
    > How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
    > place and people's homes?
    >
    > Is it viewed as a luxury? or a "North American style" oddity, or just
    > another appliance that some people have and some don't.
    >
    > thanks for any feedback (I'm serious in my question, not trying to provoke
    > any kind of trolling)
    > John.

For the UK, a/c is becoming far more commen in business places. The only
problem is that it is rubbish and hardly ever works properly IME.
Domestic a/c is virtually unheard of.
Cars are becoming more common with a/c now - in fact I wouldn't buy one
without it after having had 2 Passats now.

Les
--
Quitters never win, winners never quit. But those who never win and
never quit are idiots
------------
This post represents the views of the author and does not necessarily
accurately represent the views of my employer.

C-H Gustafsson

"John" wrote in message news:...
    > How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
    > place and people's homes?
    >
    > Is it viewed as a luxury? or a "North American style" oddity, or just
    > another appliance that some people have and some don't.
    >

In Sweden, air conditioning is almost unheard of in homes but it's a
standard feature of a modern office or public building. I know it
sounds odd, as this is a cold country. But there are good reasons.
Computers generate a lot of waste heat and the architects want to use
glass instead of conventional walls. With a lot of glass, the indoor
temperature skyrockets when the sun is shining.

(On a side note: In the street there is one set of pipes for
circulating hot water and one for circulating cold water. The former
is for the central heating, the latter for the air conditioning.
Therefore, the air conditioning isn't as energy consuming as one would
think.)

/Clas-Henrik

Kristian

"John" wrote:
    >How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
    >place and people's homes?
    >Is it viewed as a luxury? or a "North American style" oddity, or just
    >another appliance that some people have and some don't.
    >thanks for any feedback (I'm serious in my question, not trying to provoke
    >any kind of trolling)
    >John.
-----------------
We had airconditioning installed at work at one time during a hot
summer. Not because of us,the employees, but because the computers
couldn`t cope with the heat. I think in Northern Europe we kind of
used to enjoy to "suffer" the heat for a few weeks during summer - oh,
boy what a great summer we are having !
But once you`ve got used to the airconditioning you feel you can`t
live without it.

Kristian

José M. Malo

"John" escribió en el mensaje
news:[email protected]...

    > How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
    > place and people's homes?

In Spain:

- very common in public places (stores, offices). The more Southern the
place is, the more common.
- increasingly common at homes. It used to be expensive, but it no longer is
and the biggest concern now it is not the price, but the works one has to do
at home to install it. Newest buildings have a/c preinstallation, so a
minimum work is required.
- included as a standard in all but the cheapest cars (and it is an option
even in these).

nightjar

"Les B. Avenue" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
...
    > For the UK, a/c is becoming far more commen in business places. The only
    > problem is that it is rubbish and hardly ever works properly IME.

It depends what systems you install. I did have a British built system in
one of my factories, but it wasn't built to handle the hottest days, when it
was needed most. It has now been replaced with a Japanese built system,
which is designed for higher temperatures. Also, being one of the later
systems, it has variable compressor output, which gives it much closer
control over the room temperature.

Colin Bignell

nightjar

"John" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > How widespread is air conditioning in European countries, both in the work
    > place and people's homes?

In Britain, I have all my factories and the associated office air
conditioned. At home I have a few ceiling fans for the hot weather. I
haven't had a car without air conditioning for the past ten years.

In the South of France, you can see the air handling units on a fair number
of domestic premises and I would expect all but the smallest shops (and
sometimes them too) to be air conditioned. Air conditioning has been
standard every time I have hired a car in the area.

Colin Bignell