“Europeans are using more air conditioning. The amount of energy used for household cooling in the EU has doubled since 2018, though from a low base. In 2020, American households used around 914,000 terajoules to power air conditioning, compared to just 45,000 in Europe. Chinese air-conditioner exports to the EU reached a record $3.76 billion in the first half of 2026, up 43 percent from a year earlier,” reports The Doomslayer.
“Chinese companies control two-thirds of the global market for air conditioning…And they’re growing fast, particularly in Europe. Exports of AC units from China to the European Union hit $3.8 billion in the first half of 2026, up 43% from a year earlier…Orders from Europe climbed more than two-thirds in the first half from the same period last year, with sales of portable units surging by more than 90%. Haier reports its sales in France, Germany and the UK more than doubled in June from the same month last year. And Midea says AC revenue in four key European countries rose more than 70% in the first half.”
Far more people die from the heat in Europe than the U.S., even though America is generally hotter in summer. That’s because Europeans are much less likely to have air conditioning. More people die of overheating in Europe than die in the U.S. from homicide and overheating combined.
But in some European countries, people are finally getting air conditioning. “The number of homes in the UK with air conditioning has doubled over the past three years, reaching an estimated 4 million,” reported The Doomslayer.
Experts say rising air conditioning use “is the result of more people working from home and rising summer temperatures. Some of the UK’s warmest summers have been in recent years, and the UK’s hottest day was in July 2022, when temperatures hit” 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
Moreover, “significantly more people die from extreme heat in Europe than from homicides in the United States. Heat in Europe is a massive, deadly issue that claims tens of thousands of lives each year, completely dwarfing the U.S. annual homicide rate of roughly 20,000 to 25,000 victims.”
In the U.S., air conditioners and refrigerant cost more than they used to, due to Biden-era regulations.
But at least in the U.S. you can just install air conditioning when you need it, and don’t need to get a special permit or doctor’s prescription just to install it. By contrast, in certain European cities like Geneva or Zurich, “for a permanent, fixed AC system, you generally need a special permit, and in some cases, a medical certificate is required.”
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