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Comment by lm28469 | Hacker News Reader

> In most states in the South average household consumes that per month.

That's what happens when you live in cardboard houses in the middle of a literal desert.

In Europe more people live in better build houses or flats with centralised heating and no AC. I used 1500kwh last years while working full time from my living room and spent maybe 100 euros on heating

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On the other hand, because of AC the American south also doesn’t have swaths of people dropping dead when the daily temperatures rise above 80F. And considering that’s a daily part of living in the US south for roughly 6 months of the year, that’s probably a good thing.

The South (which means southeast in US parlance) would be cardboard houses in the middle of a literal swamp. The houses in the middle of a literal desert are in the Southwest.

Average American "cardboard house" is better insulated than average European brick or concrete house. Having heavy walls make your house feel "sturdy" but it has nothing to do with energy efficiency. A lot of houses in Europe are just brick or concrete with no additional insulation. In US it's it's rare to have uninsulated houses.

In US more people live in very hot places like Texas and Arizona and people mostly live in single-family houses. Single-family houses obviously takes more energy to cool than "flats". Plus average American house/flat has twice the living area.

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