Extreme heat may make France finally embrace AC

The French may soon have no choice but to stop turning up their noses at air conditioning. France recorded its hottest day ever this week amid a dangerous heat wave in Europe that’s convincing some environmentalist politicians to admit it may be time to cool down.

Some daytime temps surpassed 104 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s summer as usual for countless regions of the US, but not for France, where June heat typically maxes out around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and AC is probably less popular than iced coffee:

• Only 25% of French households have AC, compared to 50% in Spain and Italy, and 90% in the US and Japan. French schools and hospitals also rarely have AC.
• Nearly 60% of French people surveyed in a 2021 poll said they’d rather “suffer from the heat than install an air conditioner in order to protect the environment.”

But this may be the last straw. Amid dangerous conditions for healthcare workers and thousands of school closures, the leader of France’s Green Party (which has historically opposed AC) said this week that “there are places where we just can’t do without it now.”

Still, France’s nuclear-reliant grid might need more juice for such a transition—higher electricity usage during this week’s heat wave has caused mass power outages.—ML