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Comment by icebraining | Hacker News Reader

I think the point of a passive building is that it shouldn't need air conditioning.

no, this is not the point of passive houses. it is a contradiction, but the point is to reduce hvac use as much as possible. you will always need hvac for perfect results because it is impossible to build a perfect hrv system. its impossible to insulate perfectly. there will always be heat leaking from the system. in some extreme cases people can do away with their hvac completely but its difficult and expensive.

Living in Germany, I have not seen a single household with air conditioning in my life.

Even in Italy and Spain, it’s extremely rare. As long as you don’t use plywood, it’s perfectly possible to live without ac.

but i would wager that they do not live in perfect conditions inside those houses

Spaniard here. While not ubiquitous, household AC is not even rare nowadays.

It depends a lot on the area though: it's uncommon in the north/west (where temperatures get pretty low during the night even during the summer), but not in the south/east where temps won't go below 25ºC for several days (and nights) in a row.

Living in Austria we have very strict building regulations and a lot of insulation and despite of this there are more and more air conditioners because it’s so hot outside in summers now that even nights are too hot. No insulation in the world can fix that, especially if heat is also created inside.

It's possible, but not well-advised. Heat deaths in areas with poor AC penetration are, without fail, higher than in those with AC deployed.

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