[draven]

They are complimentary. Shutters reduce the amount of heat coming in. AC gets whatever heat managed to go in out.

One thing I'll never understand is not having shutters, only curtains. I live in France, almost everyone has shutters. But in other countries it's often different. I lived in Thailand for a couple of years and had only curtains, so the sun would still get past the window pane, heat the curtain, and the AC would then have take this heat outside again. This seemed massively inefficient.

I thing the best compromise is using whatever traditional, passive means of cooling we can, and then AC as needed.

[jaapz]

Most of the time these things are governed by whatever's cheaper (in the short run).

Maybe electrical energy is massively subsidized or just cheap in general. Installing shutters can be a large up-front investment, especially when installed by somebody else. It may take many years of burning energy with an AC to earn that back.

Also maybe the home isn't even yours, but you are renting. The owner doesn't care about your energy bill.

[draven]

I thought it was more of a cultural thing, or perhaps enforced by the building code ? Here in France I've never seen a house or flat without shutters. In Bangkok, when I was looking for a condo, none of them had shutters.

A cursory web search tells me shutters can influence the DPE ("diagnostic de performance énergétique".) A bad rating means you can't rent your property.

[masklinn]

Bangkok being tropical, in summer the sun basically shines straight down (and some on the east and west walls in summer and winter), some N/S roof overhang and you’re set. In Northern Africa and southern Europe the sun is significantly lower and will shine straight through windows.

There’s definitely a cultural or historical component. In my experience shutters are extremely common, near universal, in southern Europe but much less so in northern. Which is a shame because a modern PVC roller shutter, well installed and with insulated slats, also does wonders in winter.

[vladvasiliu]

Actually, many homes in France don't have shutters. According to this article, almost half don't have any.

https://immobilier.lefigaro.fr/article/seulement-54-de-logem...

[rwmj]

Yes I'm pretty sure that I cannot put up shutters or awnings here (in the UK) on the front of my house. These may become necessary in the years ahead.

[exe34]

Do shutters make it worse? How? Is it just a bad metric?

[masklinn]

Since they’re using French for the rating, I’d think the shutters improve the score and that contributes to their pervasiveness.

From a quick search, older versions of the DPE ignored shutters, modern ones take them in account and their effect ranges from neutral to positive depending on details (materials, insulation, fit). It’s not entirely clear if both high seasons are considered (insulation and fit I’d think a lot less critical in summer).

[JKCalhoun]

Low-E glass in the U.S. is supposed to reduce this by blocking a significant amount of infra-red radiation.