[m_mueller]

a) most people where I live are renters. property prices make it so.

b) in many if not most places (in Northern Europe), AC requires a permit, is very hard to get approved or even forbidden.

[snypher]

Who issues permits to which machines one can buy? Do you need a permit for a heater? Maybe whoever issues these permits needs their guidelines changed.

[m_mueller]

and that's exactly the point: regulations absolutely need to change, just like gun laws in the US.