I get that a lot of houses in Europe don't have built-in air conditioning.

What I don't get is the argument that houses built to hold in heat in winter are inherently hard to cool. Insulation works both ways? In Texas, we want as much insulation as possible!

I get it's an infrastructure problem but it's one that has been staring Europe in the face for decades.

@gwynnion houses here are built to let in as much sunlight as possible, which is nice in winter but sucks in summer

@obfusk I get that, too, and I've been in multiple apartments with big glass patio doors and huge windows all facing the sun and almost no insulation.

It's not an insurmountable problem.

@gwynnion no the main problem is inaction

e.g. awnings would help, but can't install those if you rent

and just today, with another temperature record broken, an "expert" was quoted on the news saying air conditioning is bad actually because it means your body doesn't get used to the extreme heat (after a week)

@gwynnion I can't regulate my body temperature thanks to long covid so I'm glad to have a shitty portable ac at least but it's still way too warm and I can barely get any sleep
@obfusk @gwynnion I have the same problem due to long COVID and so can sympathise! It totally scrambled whatever brain regions are responsible for sleep, mood, appetite and temperature regulation.