[m1el]

It's not about being poor. First, the climate didn't require AC in most of the Europe, until ~10 years ago. You had a few hot days, and that's it. Second, thermal isolation in the US is extremely bad quality. I think people could cut their AC usage by half if they had proper thermal isolation in their houses. Third, northern Europe countries still don't have a climate to justify buying an AC.

[brnt]

Specifically, American houses lack thermal mass due to being constructed mainly from wood. Concrete and brick will buffer over a week or so of heat before it warms up too much.

[firesteelrain]

In Florida, most of the homes are built from concrete brick with wood trusses. There are apartments made from wood and concrete.

It’s not the heat completely - it is also the humidity. You can bear up to 80 F before it starts to feel uncomfortable. Humidity will make even 75F uncomfortable.

[brnt]

Ofc, as far south as Florida the absence of cold makes the buffer function of limited use. And indeed, humidity is even worse than heat.

[difosfor]

We have high humidity in Europe as well. For example the average here in the Netherlands is 77% where in Florida it's 75% based on a quick Google.

[bitshiftfaced]

Relative humidity isn't a great indicator of comfort. It's better to look at dew point. The Netherlands is not only cooler on average but also has a lower dew point. This shouldn't be surprising given each country's latitudes.

[firesteelrain]

Both regions have high humidity, but Florida tends to have higher average humidity levels, particularly in the summer months. Florida has a subtropical to tropical climate, characterized by high temperatures and humidity, especially in the summer. Florida experiences high humidity levels throughout the year, often ranging from 70% to 90%. Summer months are particularly humid, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms.

The Netherlands has a temperate maritime climate, influenced by the North Sea.

Florida and the Netherlands are not close in comparison.

[xyzzyz]

I’m sorry, but it is just mind boggling to suggest that Netherlands and Florida have comparable weather in any sense. You wouldn’t suggest that the weather in Netherlands is as hot as in, say, Italy or Greece, and Florida is even hotter than these two.

[difosfor]

I'm not saying it's as hot here as it is in Florida. But we've been breaking records left and right up to the point where I've purchased an AC (a crappy mobile one for lack of better options here for rented apartments) because we go through months every summer now where I can barely sleep without one anymore.

My point was that people often don't realize how humid it is here. You apparently also can't believe it. And how our buildings are not made to keep heat out, but rather in. So I expect many more ACs to be sold here as well in the coming years.

It might just be a month or two each year. And it might be worse for you. But it's also getting pretty bad here already thanks to climate change. And that's not going to improve anytime soon thanks to all of us.

[quantified]

Is it possible to build so that hear is kept in but not out? I sort of thought that heat flow was bidirectional.

[rayiner]

Thermal mass doesn't matter much because the air in a typical home is replaced every hour.

[hn_go_brrrrr]

Any home with an ACH nat of 1 that's attempting to condition the air (heating or cooling) is wasting a mind boggling percentage of the energy. Surely that's not the natural ventilation rate of the _typical_ home? That would imply that 50% of homes are worse.

[rayiner]

This reference suggests that the mean air change rate in southern europe is 1.1 +/- 0.8 ac/h. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265511654_Proportio....

[orf]

Do you live in a wind-tunnel?

[01HNNWZ0MV43FF]

But if it's hot air touching cool brick, won't the air cool down quicker than the brick warms up?

[tomjakubowski]

The air inside is only a tiny fraction of a building's mass.