Europe Air Conditioning Adoption Rises as Heat Waves Intensify

Record heat across Europe this month has driven a sharp increase in air conditioning installations, with shops in France reporting units sold out and Britain recording its hottest June day on record. Temperatures reached 111 degrees in Spain, and France recorded its hottest days on record according to national meteorological agency Meteo-France.

Forty people died from drowning in France over the last week while seeking relief from the heat.

Britain now has roughly four million homes with air conditioning, twice the number from three years ago, according to price comparison service USwitch. A London air conditioning firm reported a 25-30% annual increase in installations since the COVID-19 pandemic, with the last three days the busiest in 25 years of operation.

Italy saw household air conditioning coverage rise from an estimated 10-15% after the 2003 heat wave to 56% by 2024, according to the National Institute of Statistics. The country now accounts for one-third of electricity use on air conditioning in the European Union.

Many homes in southern Europe were built with thick walls and shutters to retain cool air, while northern homes were designed to retain winter heat. Air conditioning accounts for 4% of global greenhouse gases, double the share of the aviation industry.

The U.K. government has introduced programs to replace gas boilers with heat pumps that can provide both heating and cooling. The U.K.'s Climate Change Committee projects air conditioning will account for less than 1% of electricity demand by 2050 if current policies remain in place.

The continent is heating up twice as quickly as the global average, according to the World Meteorological Organization, and the International Institute of Refrigeration expects Europe's air conditioner stock to double by 2050.