Americans Like It Cool

As millions of Americans are bracing for a heatwave that could push temperatures close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit at the weekend, many of them can at least rest assured that they’ll find shelter from the heat indoors where ACs will be running at full blast.

While Americans are used to air conditioning at home, at the office and pretty much everywhere else they go, people travelling to the U.S. for the first time, Europeans in particular, are often shocked how cool it is inside most buildings.

America’s love of keeping a cool head is coming at a price though, in the form of an extraordinary electricity bill. As the following chart, based on data from the International Energy Agency shows, no country consumes nearly as much energy as the United States for indoor cooling. Even the Middle East, a region not exactly known for its moderate climate, uses a fraction of the energy the U.S. uses to keep the indoors nice and cool.