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Comment by sph | Hacker News Reader

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"Simply cannot have AC" is a problem we did to ourselves, or rather, the "its not so bad just suffer a bit" people are doing to the rest of the population.

What are the reasons "most of us simply cannot have AC"? Either laws/regulations banning it or making it prohibitive, or living in rentals without proper protection.

There is no reason why heat protection couldn't be mandated for rental units just like heating is required in winter. Or why tenants couldn't have a right to install AC at their own expense.

Meanwhile, because permanent AC units are de facto impossible, the portable Mideas sell out as soon as the heat wave hits, and we're forced to run air conditioners with literally open windows just so we can run the hose through.

(You should get one for next year, by the way. You probably missed the opportunity for this year unless you want to pay a scalper 2-3x the normal price, but they can be installed in essentially any window or balcony, are reasonably quiet, much better than the 'air hose out the window' monoblock units, and they fucking work)

Not beating the allegations of Europoor mentality. I'm not from USA

Price, mostly, isn't the issue.

Living in Germany, rental apartments simply don't have AC. Even luxury apartments that are 4k+ per month typically dont. Thats changing very slowly but still a long way to go.

A lot of landlords simply don't give a shit as they're not required to install one and since there is a housing shortage, good luck convincing them of anything.

Even if you own your apartment, installing a split AC requires unanimous approval from the other apartment owners before you can install one because making any permanent modifications to the outside of the building (like drilling a hole) needs their permission.

The older generation (generalising here) often has the opinion that the cold air from ACs is unhealthy and causes cold.

Once you get past all of that, is when price can become the issue. The AC units, even top-of-the-line, cost around 1k-1.8k. Good luck finding someone to install it for you. You need an electrician and a licenced installer.

I own my house so I dont need anyone's permission. The cheapest total cost (including the 1.2k for the unit I want) is 6k. Because apparently drilling 2 holes and, running the wire and coolant pipes is 4.8k.

You can buy a portable unit for like 300e and seal the window with a piece of plexiglass with a hole in it. It's a pretty low barrier.

Sort of. We dont have sliding windows. Windows tilt in Germany so it's a weird shape you need to close up. Portable ACs come with a mesh cover that works OK but its not as good as a properly sealed window. They're also significantly less efficient and much louder.

Midea has released the Porta split a few hears ago which was a game changer for many people. I currently have one cooling the bedroom.

Why is everyone on social media talking about Midea? I never see any other brand mentioned. Is this a coordinated marketing campaign?

They are the first to make split mobile ACs widely available to the masses. They previously existed but were mainly advertised as camping or boat ACs.

Midea put quite a bit of money into ads, sponsorships, etc but they also simply make a really good product.

I've had a monoblock AC before. Same BTU as the Midea one I have now. It was significantly louder, took way longer to cool the same room, and used more energy.

I realize you're aiming at Americans in general, but I'm Canadian. Most developed countries outside of Europe have AC readily available these days. The governance is a reflection of the people. Same can be said about the Americans.

> I realize you're aiming at Americans in general, but I'm Canadian.

Same difference.

Heat affects the old disproportionately. Europeans have years of extra life expectancy (look at the Mediterranean countries, affected by the heat). It is not unexpected that more, older Europeans die during a heatwave. The Americans that would have died during a heatwave are already dead due to other causes.

The AC debate is not an honest one (or just an ignorant take). I really hope Americans can.fix their healthcare system.

> us simply cannot have AC

Im really curious how this works. Do standalone units not exist?

Same question. Electricity and logistics are really the only physical barriers. With solar and a single mini split couldn't you essentially prevent heat death with some very high probability?

Freezing to death in winter should be a harder problem at this point right?

Electricity and logistics solve the heating just as well. You can use the same device if you want to. Heat pump is just an AC run in reverse, literally all you need is a little valve to reverse the flow.

As long as it's only a little below freezing. Try that in Norway, or even somewhere like Austria, and see how it goes.

They work just fine until -25C or so. (COP around 3). After they they still do work you just fine but work effectively as resistive heaters as you approach COP of 1.

Obviously you need a model they is made for which winters but people use them all over Finland including Lapland without any issues. If you want to save some money on the coldest days you burn some wood in the oven/fireplace if you have one.

edit: heat pumps (both air and ground) have been very popular in the nordics for quite some time now. One big reason is that we have cheap electricity and very expensive oil/gas. Lately also municipal level central heating networks have been slowly moving to heat pumps as their source of heat.

Then you'd just use "old fashioned" electric heating

Some people rent. Some people can't afford one. Some people, like me, are in a short-term let in a country where it doesn't make sense to buy appliances if you're to leave after a few weeks.

Now that I had to explain my personal living arrangement, am I please excused from the constant nagging about europoors and their stupid hangups about AC?

I mean, I rented for a while in Seattle, and had a window unit I would take with me every time I moved. Is that not an option?

> To hear Americans jump at the chance to comment about Europeans and their AC usage

A lot of Americans would be indifferent if it wasn't for Europeans (mostly Germans ime - Southern, Central, and Eastern Europeans are indifferent to supportive) who often try to act all superior about not using ACs or heat pumps because they supposedly "cause colds" or are somehow "unnatural" or try to make it a moral action despite a large portion of Americans using GreenTech to subsidize AC spend.

TBH, a lot of distaste Americans have for "Europeans" is basically a distaste for DACH residents weird sense of superiority (especially racial - you guys don't realize it but you tend to treat Black, Asian, and Hispanic Americans negatively until we wave our passport and Amex Gold/Plat). Most other Europeans are much more pleasant to be around with.

I think USA'n suffers more from discomfort than European, and the gp comment is an attempt at explaining that.

this is also my experience as a north American, sweating is a no-go and they clutch AC at 18C.

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