Government mandated thermostat settings

[kdonnel]

Looks like Europe is getting serious about potential energy shortages.

Spain has ordered thermostats not be set lower than 80.6 for cooling or above 66.2 when heating.

Germany has banned portable AC and heaters anywhere except hospitals and schools.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/3/2...ing-air-conditioning-below-27-degrees-celsius

I have no desire to visit Europe at those temps.

 

[Silver saucer]

Yeah........ no.

 

[tvguy]

I suspect there are far fewer air conditioned places in those countries, at least in my experience, especially homes. So not sure it is a big deal.
As for the heating, 66 is well in my comfort zone for winter.

 

[TLSnell1981]

We usually travel to Europe in the winter. And it is cold during that time of year. We layer when outside so no problem doing it inside.

 

[disykat]

I feel really sorry for the elderly that live in that situation. My 90 year old mom likes it 80 degrees all year round and still bundles up because she's freezing. She'd be okay on really hot days in the summer because it rarely gets over 80 inside here, but winter would be really hard!

 

[mikalkwin]

Looks like Europe is getting serious about potential energy shortages.

Spain has ordered thermostats not be set lower than 80.6 for cooling or above 66.2 when heating.

Germany has banned portable AC and heaters anywhere except hospitals and schools.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/3/2...ing-air-conditioning-below-27-degrees-celsius

I have no desire to visit Europe at those temps.

You don't realise that most private homes don't have A/C in Europe. Except if you live in the south / close to the mediterranean sea.

For environnmental and health reasons, in France, it is already recommended since many years to not heat bedrooms above 18/19 celsius and living room 20/21 celsius.

I now live in Germany, I don't have A/C and I currently have 26 celsius max in my appartment when is reaches 37/38 everyday outside this week (and this is "regular" heat, not humid like in the east coast of the US now).

I usually visit WDW in august, we bring longsleeve shirts to WDW because A/C is waaaay too low for us in restaurants and disney buses.

You are projecting you habits / way of life when for us, Europeans, these new recommendations are minor changes and might have big benefits in the long run.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

 

[kdonnel]

You are projecting you habits / way of life

I framed it exactly that way in the original post.

I see no value in visiting Europe if I will be uncomfortable.

 

[Moliphino]

Spain is HOT right now. A dry 80 degrees inside will feel really nice when you're coming in from 100+ outside.

As for heat, 66 is about what I keep mine at. If the oil prices stay high I'll most likely go lower this winter.

 

[kanerf]

I used to visit the commissary when I was living over in Germany. I would spend lots of time in the refrigerated and frozen sections just chillen. And no, I did not have any air conditioning in my residence.

 

[Colleen27]

I suspect there are far fewer air conditioned places in those countries, at least in my experience, especially homes. So not sure it is a big deal.
As for the heating, 66 is well in my comfort zone for winter.

The fact that there are fewer air conditioned spaces makes the ban on portable units particularly harsh, because in most residences that's the only a/c available. We stayed in two flats in Europe that advertising having a/c, one in Paris and one in Edinburgh, and both only had a freestanding portable with the hose-vent that runs to a window. The one in Edinburgh was completely unnecessary but the one in Paris I wouldn't have wanted to be without - the apartment was second floor, only had one set of windows, and those opened to an enclosed courtyard/alleyway so there was no breeze and some rather interesting smells if it was left open.

I feel really sorry for the elderly that live in that situation. My 90 year old mom likes it 80 degrees all year round and still bundles up because she's freezing. She'd be okay on really hot days in the summer because it rarely gets over 80 inside here, but winter would be really hard!

To a certain degree, people get used to what they live. Obviously that doesn't apply at the extremes, like the unheard of heat so many normally not-hot places are having this year, but having air conditioning does tend to increase the expectation of/demand for air conditioned spaces. Whether that psychological or physiological, I don't know. But people who are used to air conditioning seem to have a narrower band of comfortable temperatures and a harder time coping with temps outside of that band.

 

[DeeBee3]

As an aside to this, coal is being shipped up and down the Rhine in Germany, but the water level is so low they cannot fill the boats to capacity. So, I think energy is a big problem all over the world right now. Close down all the power plants and other facilities and now we're back to coal...

 

[piccolopat]

If the alternative is energy shortages leading to blackouts or brownouts, putting these measures into place seems a reasonable solution, hopefully temporary. Wind and solar are not the answer as they are environmentally harmful to build and dispose of, and conditions to generate power from them are not reliable in many areas. Nuclear and clean burning natural gas should be a part of the solution. Even coal can play a role if technology can address the problems that burning it creates.

So much of this issue is what an individual is used to. Growing up, we didn't have air conditioning until I was almost a teen. Even then, we had one A/C in the living room. When it got really hot, we slept on the living room floor. Otherwise it was fans and open windows. It's also a relative situation. Our downstairs isn't air conditioned because my MIL lived there before she passed and she was always cold. When we are working out in the yard and it is HOT, coming inside downstairs feels like it is air conditioned, at least for a while. Lower temps inside in the winter are easier to deal with since I can always add layers.

That said, we prefer A/C when it gets hot and generally set our thermostat to 72. 80 would be uncomfortable for us and so if this continues, we'll schedule our next trip to Europe when temps are more moderate.

 

[jesusfreak75]

Pretty soon European countries will mandate when you can breath!

 

[disney212]

I lived outside Heidelberg in the 90s, it got hot and humid and no AC. My asthma was crazy. We lived in 3rd floor apartment that backed up to a working farm. The smells of onions was almost unbearable at times. No elevator either and laundry room was in the basement.

 

[mrodgers]

At 80°, I wouldn't have to bother washing bed sheets any more. I'll have to throw out the sweat logged mattress and buy a new one every few days.

My thermostat is set at 67 because if I turn it higher, it is later in the morning and hotter out when it kicks on and will be an ice block and 95° inside all night long until early in the morning when I would have been waking up if I got any sleep.

Winter, I'm not turning my furnace up to 66°, LOL.

 

[tvguy]

The fact that there are fewer air conditioned spaces makes the ban on portable units particularly harsh, because in most residences that's the only a/c available. We stayed in two flats in Europe that advertising having a/c, one in Paris and one in Edinburgh, and both only had a freestanding portable with the hose-vent that runs to a window. The one in Edinburgh was completely unnecessary but the one in Paris I wouldn't have wanted to be without - the apartment was second floor, only had one set of windows, and those opened to an enclosed courtyard/alleyway so there was no breeze and some rather interesting smells if it was left open.

My daughter lived in Leeds for a year going to College there. No AC in the dorm, none in the hotel we stayed in and this was 2014. Yes, it was warm, just like when I was in London in 1976 during the "great" heatwave. Stayed at the Hilton in London, no ac and no pool, and soft drinks were mostly sold warm without ice.

 

[tvguy]

I framed it exactly that way in the original post.

I see no value in visiting Europe if I will be uncomfortable.

And I think as far as AC, you would be uncomfortable without the restrictions since ac isn't common.

 

[Moliphino]

Southern Spain, at least, is used to this kind of heat. Their buildings (especially the old ones built pre-air conditioning) are designed to stay cool. They usually don't have much humidity, either, being more of a desert climate.

 

[Colleen27]

And I think as far as AC, you would be uncomfortable without the restrictions since ac isn't common.

I second that. My son certainly was, despite me making sure to book flats and hotels that did have a/c for the two weeks he was with us because even when he lived at home (no a/c), he's always had a harder time with heat. That didn't change the fact that most museums and other attractions don't, or have very ineffectual a/c. We were in London during their first heatwave this summer - the one where it was "only" in the 90s, not the triple digits that came later - and it was very obvious in our air conditioned flat, the air conditioned bus we were on for our city tour, etc. that their a/c is designed to take a bit of the edge off of upper 70s/low 80s, not actually keep the the air cool when the outside temp is 90+. Shady outdoors spaces were often cooler than supposedly air conditioned indoor spaces, at least those with poor ventilation or bigger crowds.

Restrictions or not, I don't think Europe in the summer is a very good destination for people who have a hard time with heat or expect 70 degree a/c in their lodgings or public spaces.