Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because they’re poor and cheap. Maybe that’s not very PC, but it’s the truth. Of course they’ll make all kinds of excuses like it’s bad for your health etc, but that’s the reason!

I'm French. Nobody is making those excuses, except morons. Of course it's expensive, and often it's structurally impossible. If the US had the same proportion of ancient buildings, they wouldn't retrofit A/C in them either!!!

[Anonymous]

We were in Italy (all over) for nearly three weeks last July. Our hotels had excellent AC. Most churches were cool. Shops had ac or fans. Most restaurants had ac or were cooled by fans.

It really wasn’t unbearable.

Are you staying in a hot Airbnb, op?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were in Italy (all over) for nearly three weeks last July. Our hotels had excellent AC. Most churches were cool. Shops had ac or fans. Most restaurants had ac or were cooled by fans.

It really wasn’t unbearable.

Are you staying in a hot Airbnb, op?

Agreed, you have to confirm it, but plenty of hotels and apartment rentals have A/C, and yes since its expensive, it generally is more common in more expensive/nicer areas, and of course places with A/C will be more expensive to stay at. May have the (ugh) loud portable ones that exhaust out a window, or (much better) mini-splits, and may only be in the bedrooms. Our rental a few years ago had the portable unit in one bedroom, and good fans in the other one. We ended up all sleeping in the one bedroom with the A/C and it was fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were in Italy (all over) for nearly three weeks last July. Our hotels had excellent AC. Most churches were cool. Shops had ac or fans. Most restaurants had ac or were cooled by fans.

It really wasn’t unbearable.

Are you staying in a hot Airbnb, op?

Agreed, you have to confirm it, but plenty of hotels and apartment rentals have A/C, and yes since its expensive, it generally is more common in more expensive/nicer areas, and of course places with A/C will be more expensive to stay at. May have the (ugh) loud portable ones that exhaust out a window, or (much better) mini-splits, and may only be in the bedrooms. Our rental a few years ago had the portable unit in one bedroom, and good fans in the other one. We ended up all sleeping in the one bedroom with the A/C and it was fine.

Also if renting a place that lists A/C as an amenity, see if you can ask or figure out what system they have. The best is if you can spot the mini-split unit in a picture. If you don't see that, probably reasonable to assume it's the portable unit- window units are uncommon there because of the style of windows they have. If they have full ducted A/C they will probably say that in the listing because it's so uncommon and definitely something people will pay extra for.

[Anonymous]

Lots of old masonry buildings that typically stay fairly cool. Use a fan, keep the windows open, shades drawn to the sunward side, just a little airflow management is all.

Also, I'm of Italian descent and can say that I feel just great soaking up the sun. My wife of Scottish descent thinks that direct sunshine and temps over 75F are almost unbearable.

So yeah, maybe you're just not cut out for life in a warm, sunny place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of old masonry buildings that typically stay fairly cool. Use a fan, keep the windows open, shades drawn to the sunward side, just a little airflow management is all.

Also, I'm of Italian descent and can say that I feel just great soaking up the sun. My wife of Scottish descent thinks that direct sunshine and temps over 75F are almost unbearable.

So yeah, maybe you're just not cut out for life in a warm, sunny place.

It took me a minute to figure out the full window retractable metal sunshades, but they really work. Pull them down by 9 AM, back up at 7 PM, it's an old school but effective way to limit heat buildup, along with ceiling fans and a couple of open windows on the non-sun side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they’re poor and cheap. Maybe that’s not very PC, but it’s the truth. Of course they’ll make all kinds of excuses like it’s bad for your health etc, but that’s the reason!

Or because buildings were built before Jesus and he didn’t miraculously retroactively install ductwork in them. 🙄

Nope. Inverters are available and don’t require ductwork.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they’re poor and cheap. Maybe that’s not very PC, but it’s the truth. Of course they’ll make all kinds of excuses like it’s bad for your health etc, but that’s the reason!

I'm French. Nobody is making those excuses, except morons. Of course it's expensive, and often it's structurally impossible. If the US had the same proportion of ancient buildings, they wouldn't retrofit A/C in them either!!!

Right. I’m in France right now in a very old farmhouse and we have inverters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were in Italy (all over) for nearly three weeks last July. Our hotels had excellent AC. Most churches were cool. Shops had ac or fans. Most restaurants had ac or were cooled by fans.

It really wasn’t unbearable.

Are you staying in a hot Airbnb, op?

A/C is mandatory for us too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Italians believe it is bad for your health - you will get "colpo d'aria" an illness they very much believe in and take very seriously. When I lived there, we used a lot of fans and kept the Roman shades almost always completely shut, just cracked enough to let air through. It's the only way to survive.

+1 My in laws are always exclaiming "my liver!" if I keep the house or car too cold.

[Anonymous]

After a few days with no AC in a heatwave where’s it usually fine without it, I’m thinking that ubiquitous AC might have something to do with our collective weight gain in the US. Bodies use a lot of energy dealing with warmer temps.

[Anonymous]

Because it is a poor country. We take our air conditioning and otherluxuries for granted in the US..

[Anonymous]

Go to Italy in spring or fall. Summer is for suckers.

[Anonymous]

Because they cause colpo d’aria! Italians believe they make you sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were in Italy (all over) for nearly three weeks last July. Our hotels had excellent AC. Most churches were cool. Shops had ac or fans. Most restaurants had ac or were cooled by fans.

It really wasn’t unbearable.

Are you staying in a hot Airbnb, op?

A/C is mandatory for us too.

We just came back from Italy. Both our VRBOs had a/c and washers. I don’t book places without a/c or a washer.