Anonymous
06/27/2025 15:41
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
When our Italian relatives come here (to the US) they think they are going to die from the over air conditioning. They hate it.
Anonymous
06/27/2025 15:37
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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.
Indeed - Italians and their “colpo d’aria”. I’ve never seen anyone take something so seriously as the Italians I worked with. They literally believe air makes you sick and also gives you a stiff neck. There is no reasoning with them on the topic. Also they believe if you go out with wet hair bad things will happen.
Can you please not speak for all Italians/be racist AF? This is BS and my family in Sicily would agree.
Sicilians aren't really Italians, though.
Anonymous
06/27/2025 15:30
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
Anonymous wrote: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.
Indeed - Italians and their “colpo d’aria”. I’ve never seen anyone take something so seriously as the Italians I worked with. They literally believe air makes you sick and also gives you a stiff neck. There is no reasoning with them on the topic. Also they believe if you go out with wet hair bad things will happen.
Can you please not speak for all Italians/be racist AF? This is BS and my family in Sicily would agree.
Anonymous
06/27/2025 15:27
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
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.
Indeed - Italians and their “colpo d’aria”. I’ve never seen anyone take something so seriously as the Italians I worked with. They literally believe air makes you sick and also gives you a stiff neck. There is no reasoning with them on the topic. Also they believe if you go out with wet hair bad things will happen.
Anonymous
06/27/2025 15:18
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OMG. It's sweltering.
Rome is the same latitude as Portland, Maine.
OK? thanks for adding that very important fact to the conversation. Anything else?
Anonymous
06/27/2025 15:13
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OMG. It's sweltering.
Rome is the same latitude as Portland, Maine.
Latitude is only one factor among many that determine climates.
Anonymous
06/27/2025 15:07
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
Anonymous wrote:OMG. It's sweltering.
Rome is the same latitude as Portland, Maine.
Anonymous
06/27/2025 14:27
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
Thankfully mini-split systems seem to be popping up everywhere. Yes, not as good as central air, but way easier to retro-fit.
Anonymous
06/27/2025 14:11
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
Anonymous wrote:We stayed in two different French hotels this past week. Both claimed to have AC (and I guess technically did) but neither was able to adequately cool the room by American standards. And we aren't the type to keep our home freezing. We like it about 74 in the summer. These hotels could not manage that. And what was annoying that both hotels only had duvets with duvet covers but no top sheets. So you couldn't just sleep with a sheet, it was duvet or nothing.
Here's what you do. Take the cover off the duvet. Fold the duvet inner and put it in the closet. Sleep under the empty duvet cover. They made up the bed with just the cover the next night no problem.
Anonymous
06/27/2025 11:55
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We stayed in two different French hotels this past week. Both claimed to have AC (and I guess technically did) but neither was able to adequately cool the room by American standards. And we aren't the type to keep our home freezing. We like it about 74 in the summer. These hotels could not manage that. And what was annoying that both hotels only had duvets with duvet covers but no top sheets. So you couldn't just sleep with a sheet, it was duvet or nothing.
We are in France now in an old stone farmhouse. It remains remarkably cool, even without it A/C and in 100 degree weather. Amazing.
74C isn’t cold?
Anonymous
06/27/2025 08:59
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
Anonymous wrote:We stayed in two different French hotels this past week. Both claimed to have AC (and I guess technically did) but neither was able to adequately cool the room by American standards. And we aren't the type to keep our home freezing. We like it about 74 in the summer. These hotels could not manage that. And what was annoying that both hotels only had duvets with duvet covers but no top sheets. So you couldn't just sleep with a sheet, it was duvet or nothing.
We are in France now in an old stone farmhouse. It remains remarkably cool, even without it A/C and in 100 degree weather. Amazing.
Anonymous
06/27/2025 08:56
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
We stayed in two different French hotels this past week. Both claimed to have AC (and I guess technically did) but neither was able to adequately cool the room by American standards. And we aren't the type to keep our home freezing. We like it about 74 in the summer. These hotels could not manage that. And what was annoying that both hotels only had duvets with duvet covers but no top sheets. So you couldn't just sleep with a sheet, it was duvet or nothing.
Anonymous
06/27/2025 08:50
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
Anonymous wrote:My parents in Paris don't know anyone who has central A/C in their home or apartment.
You didn't know that Europe hasn't retrofitted A/C in its old buildings, and still builds new without A/C?
It's slowly changing, but not fast enough for our rate of global warming.
Even our 1950s house wasn't built with AC. Someone installed the duct work afterwards. That would be difficult with some building built two centuries ago.
Anonymous
06/27/2025 08:48
Subject: Re:Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
Anonymous wrote:Electricity is very expensive.
Many countries don't use dryers for the laundry either.
Anonymous
06/27/2025 07:38
Subject: Why is there so little air conditioning in Italy
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!!!
+1 I’ve been doing a lot of college visits recently and that’s where you’ll still see lots old buildings with A/C window units.