What are European attitudes towards air conditioning?

Key findings

• Survey conducted in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain
• Between 61% and 72% support air conditioning being installed as standard in new homes
• In Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Spain, between 41-48% say that allowing and encouraging more widespread adoption of air conditioning, even if this means more carbon emissions, should be the priority over reducing carbon emissions — 20-33% think the fight against climate change is more important
• Among those who say they don’t want air conditioning in their home, climate change is a relatively uncommon reason for doing so (9-22%), with France the exception (40%)
• 52% of French people were concerned for health of someone in their household during the July heatwave
• While most Italians (63%) and Spaniards (58%) say they have A/C, this falls to 30% in France, 23% in Poland, 16% in Germany and just 11% in Britain
• Cost concerns far outweigh climate change considerations for people who don’t have air conditioning

With a series of record-breaking heat waves affecting Europe this summer, the issue of air conditioning has become a hot political topic.

European adoption of air conditioning has been sluggish compared to the US, with regulations in some countries impeding more widespread usage. While some are calling for restrictions to be relaxed in light of the recent high temperatures and the associated heat-related health impact, others have voiced strong opposition, citing the extra carbon emissions that would result.

Now a new YouGov survey examines attitudes towards air conditioning in the six largest European countries: Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain. We find that there is widespread support for making it easier to get air conditioning, and that Europeans prioritise greater uptake to mitigate heat-related health concerns over keeping carbon emissions low.

However, Europeans are split on whether more widespread use of A/C is necessary in order to solve the problems of heatwaves and higher temperatures, and tend more towards thinking that governments should prioritise alternative methods of cooling homes.

We separately examine how widespread the adoption of air conditioning has been in Europe, and the reasons that Europeans give for not having – or not wanting – A/C.

Likewise, we ask Europeans how they handled the summer’s heatwaves, finding that those with air conditioning are far more likely to say they were able to successfully cool their homes to an acceptable temperature.

1. European attitudes to air conditioning and willingness to expand ownership

How do Europeans feel about air conditioning in general?

The relatively low uptake of air conditioning in Europe (in comparison with, for instance, the United States) does not reflect a broad negativity towards the technology, with attitudes generally being positive (46-60%) or at least neutral (31-39%).

The French are the most likely to have a negative opinion of air conditioning, at 20%, compared to 7-13% in the other countries surveyed.