—Rant Starting—
It’s the strangest thing, I’ve spent a significant amount of my life in Asia, Australia and America. The only place where Air Conditioning is not popular is Germany. I just don’t get it.
We use heaters in Winter, all sorts of heaters. Oil and Gas fired, maybe even a wood fireplace. In recent years Heat Pumps (e.g. reverse air conditioners) have become popular.
We acknowledge that freezing in winter is dumb, especially if there are good solutions available. So why the heck do we sweat ourselves to death in summer!?
You go to a government building anywhere in Germany - get ready to sweat. You take the regional train from Brandenburg to downtown Berlin - be ready for your own personal heat-stroke. Hoping for some reprieve in the city bus after waiting at the steaming bus-stop? No deal. The interior of the bus feels similar to a Finnish Sauna, minus the aromatic pine-smell. Have the audacity to flip the tiny window to get some breeze? Rest assure that someone will yell at you for ‘getting a stiff neck’.
The german internet is filled with people complaining about not being able to sleep in their flats during summer nights. There are warnings of how to spot heat exhaustion in the young and elderly. The TV programs announce ‘useful tips’ such as attaching tin foil across all your exterior windows. Seriously!?
Can’t we just acknowledge that the climate is changing and we ought to do something about it?
—Rant over—
My personal solution:
I live in a house that was build in 1936. The walls are reasonably insulated but during hot and sunny days, it will get steamy. I’ve been thinking about hiring a company to retrofit a split-system AC for the bedrooms. Costs a couple of thousand bucks and would be a really nice permanent solution that can also support heating in the winter time.
Right now, I don’t wan’t the mess of drilled walls and the extra expense. So I invested in a more cost effective, yet powerful solution. A portable split system.
There are not many such systems in the market, I can recommend the PortaSplit by Midea.
It looks like this:
It’s different to the Monoblock Systems you may find at your local discounter. Here’s the list of benefits that made me choose it:
It’s portable and can be installed in a few minutes in most places, no drilling required, even the outside components
The noisy part (the compressor) is outside, while the inside unit distributes the cool air and creates merely some gentle fan sound
The design makes it really efficient (uses about 1.5kWh worth electricity of power per hot night) and it doesn’t use as much electricity (compared to monoblock)
Condense Water is pumped outside and simply drips to the ground
It can heat as well, which could be useful in the cold season
It does not create a negative pressure in the house and therefore doesn’t drag more hot air inside (compared to monoblock)
Once I am ready for a permanent system, I can simply detach and sell it
Yes it still costs around 900 bucks, but the improvement in life quality is priceless. It allows me to have a restful sleep, which makes me more productive at work and more healthy overall. I am sure, the ROI is well in the green.
Fellow Germans, get an AC already! You won’t regret it.
First: Of course I agree in wondering, why in Germany (as well as in many European countries) an AC is NOT the standard, although enough money would be there and people spend a lot of on much more useless stuff.
Second: In most countries I've visited that have AC everywhere in daily life, I cannot understand why the hell they all turn it down to 18° C / 64° F or even lower. Entering a supermarket in HongKong, where it's pretty hot outdoors all the time? I'm instantly freezing. Taking a taxi in the US? I'd need long sleeves or a blanket to survive the trip...
My German car has got an AC and I'm setting it to 22° C or sometimes even 24° C these days as I would prefer in a room inside a building as well. Been to Arizona some weeks ago – the first thing I did in every hotel room was turn off the AC or set it to a temperature mich higher than what the hotel management thought, I'd like.
I guess it is a bit of a „tradition“ thing: We are just not used to it and typical German mainstream is „OMG – NEVER change anything as long as possible!“
My personal situation is: I just love it when it's hot. Yes, also 30° C and above. And, yes, I'd rather have 40° C (104° F) like in Phoenix than anything lower than 20° C. I am surely not average with these genes, but I really enjoy it as it is – of course knowing that for climate reasons I should not too loudly celebrate it...