Every second German foregoes air conditioning due to electricity prices
In Italy, every second household has a permanently installed air conditioner, while in Germany, it's only one in twenty. Every second German foregoes air conditioning due to electricity prices, even though three out of four believe that air conditioners are becoming more necessary. A representative survey commissioned by Galaxus in five countries shows how differently Europe approaches combating heat at home.
In summer, Germany throws open its windows early in the morning. Wide open. A draft for a few minutes – then they close again and the blinds come down. Power-saving and free – for as long as possible. This is how Germany cools down. A representative survey by YouGov on behalf of Galaxus, involving 2616 people in Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, and Austria, shows that Europe has different approaches to heat.
Switzerland and Germany cool without air conditioning
Four out of five people in Switzerland state that they cool their homes by ventilating in the morning and keeping windows closed during the day – the highest value among all five countries. Two-thirds also rely on external shading, such as roller shutters, blinds, or awnings. This is also a top value.
Permanently installed air conditioning? In Switzerland as well as in Germany: none. In Italy, the southernmost of the surveyed countries, however, air conditioning at home is standard for half of the respondents.
Meanwhile, fans are popular in almost all countries: about half of the respondents use one. Only in Switzerland are they less common, with only one-third using them.
The green conscience as a Swiss brake
The fact that Switzerland uses so little air conditioning is not primarily due to money: only two out of ten respondents cite acquisition costs as a reason. In France and Germany, four out of ten say the purchase price is too high.
What holds Switzerland back is its ecological conscience: more than one in three people cite environmental concerns as a reason against air conditioning – this value is not as high in any other country. Bureaucratic hurdles, on the other hand, play hardly any role: only one in five people states that they are not allowed to install air conditioning or do not have space for it. For Italians, ecological considerations play the smallest role. In Germany, neither the purchase price nor the ecological conscience deters people, but primarily the electricity bill.
The green conscience in Switzerland underlines that only one in five respondents here considers air conditioning in living spaces to be ecologically justifiable – the lowest value among all five countries. Respondents in France and Austria have the fewest qualms.
A dilemma: four out of ten Swiss people see air conditioning as increasingly necessary in view of rising heatwaves – in Italy, eight out of ten say so. At the same time, almost half of Swiss people reject air conditioning as not ecologically justifiable.
When the heat creeps into the night
Europe becomes particularly diligent when the heat creeps into the bedroom. Two out of three Swiss people leave their windows open at night, as do the same number in Germany. Half in both countries switch to lighter bedding or darken the bedroom during the day. In Italy, the air conditioning runs at night or before falling asleep in four out of ten bedrooms – almost twice as many as in second-placed France.
Then there's the question that no one asks aloud, but everyone is interested in: sleeping naked. In France and Austria, about one in three people sleeps without clothes. In Switzerland, Germany, and Italy, only one in four does so.
And when does the heat become unbearable? In four out of five countries, the pain threshold is 26 to 27 degrees room temperature. Only Italians react more calmly: there, one in four people is only bothered by the heat from 28 to 29 degrees.
Whether Switzerland's and Germany's analog cooling strategy will withstand hotter summers remains to be seen. The sales figures for air conditioning units on Galaxus suggest a different trend: never before have customers bought so many air conditioning units in a single month as in June 2026.
How do you feel about cooling with air conditioning? Ecological nonsense or salvation in the heat?
As a multimedia producer, it is a matter of course for me to prepare content in a variety of ways. In my free time, I'm drawn to the mountains, whether it's skiing, mountain biking or hiking. And of course I always have my camera to hand, as well as my FPV drone.
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