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Comment by omnimus | Hacker News Reader

Let me introduce you to… cold related deaths. They are 8x more common in europe than heat deaths.

Since both of the cases happen mostly indoors we can assume it's both thanks to state of the buildings.

Not everyone can afford AC or insulation and cold used to be and still a bigger problem. Heating is absurdly expensive with leaky building so people prioritize insulating.

“Ideological comfort” lol stop it what the hell. Do you think people in europe wouldn't like to have AC if they could reasonably have it?

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« Heating is absurdly expensive with leaky building so people prioritize insulating. »

Nope, heat pumps are cheaper and more efficient. Insulating did not even make a dent in reducing emissions in Germany after years of trying.

Whataboutism about cold related deaths doesn’t change anything about the heat related deaths. Did you know the Philippines lose fewer people to heat than Europe, per capita? They have AC.

Again, you’ve been misinformed. Please research the subject, use an LLM, whatever you need. The information is right there.

I don't think you realize how old buildings work and that majority of people in europe live in apartment buildings often 50+ old and they rent it.

Would love to see you convince the landlords to refurbish the building to use expensive heatpumps when gas is already in place. Also heatpumps just like any other heating solution sucks without insulation.

It would be better to look at new buildings and you will find out that yes even europeans when building new get AC/heatpumps and solar and all the good stuff.

The thing is - I as european don't know a single person who has or is building a new house. I know few that live in a house but most prefer appartments.

> Would love to see you convince the landlords to refurbish the building to use expensive heatpumps when gas is already in place.

They've been redoing the insulation since new regulation was enforced in France and Germany, it's been years now. So, that kind of thing is doable, except billions have been spent for a dubious result (look it up, Germans heat just as much as before). I am appalled at the complete lack of information on these subjects. For shame.

EDIT: Fact checking myself, the Germans have been reducing their heating, but significantly lower than expected because of a rebound effect (part of the efficiency gain is converted into comfort).

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