Too ugly, too noisy, too American? France's great air con debate

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/07/europe/france-heatwave-air-con-politics-intl

by rawgabbit • 17 days ago

2 4 17 days ago

daly• 17 days ago

The temperature is 98. The humidity is 77. That's a web bulb temperature of 92. People my age die in those conditions. Few things would be too ugly, too noisy, and bothersome as a hospital death bed due to organ failure.

senderista• 17 days ago

The divide between elites and the general public is pretty stark if you look at polling on this subject.

dlcarrier2• 16 days ago

Yeah, when a quarter of the population has something, it's not particularly rare. About a quarter of US households own an indoor cat, and plenty of people joke about not liking cats, but almost no one wants to prevent others from having pet cats.

dlcarrier2• 16 days ago

Fun fact: The modern air conditioner was invented by Willis Carrier, and the Carrier surname is most common in French-speaking regions. The air conditioner may have been developed by the offspring of Frenchmen.

Too ugly, too noisy, too American? France's great air con debate

Related Stories