cindynpp

Is air conditioning necessary in Paris the first week of June? I never thought to check on that for the apartment we are renting and wonder how important it is. Looking at the climate it says the max temperature is 20C. I think I converted that to 68F. If that is true you may not need it but what do I know. I'm from Georgia we use AC about 8 months of the year.

suze

Sometime I use the AC for masking street noise in certain city situations, even if it's not all that hot.

DonTopaz

Air conditioning is necessary in Paris only if it will be hot.

Paris in June is sometimes hot, sometimes not.

NeoPatrick

Air conditioning is NEVER "necessary", but then neither are a private bath, or an actual bed instead of a futon or a mattress on the floor, or even furniture for that matter. If you are willing to "get by" when you travel, then you can always survive without AC just like you can survive without all the other things that can make travel comfortable.

If you like to be comfortable and if you're not a big risk taker, then AC is more than a luxury, it helps guarantee that you will be comfortable, not merely "surviving".
I've been in Paris a lot in June. Rarely have I NOT used AC during that time. I'm one who doesn't like to sleep with the windows open when I know I will be awakening by late night revelers, or by early morning deliveries by truck and trash pickup.

Averages are fine, but specifics are better. I just clicked on June 6 for the past 5 years. Two of those years had a high in the upper 60's. Two in the 70's, and in 2003 the high was 80. The humdity for all those was in the upper 60% range. I'm not sure about you, but that certainly means I would have been uncomfortable at least three of those five years on June 6 without AC. But no doubt I still would have survived it.

kerouac

Sometimes a rare heatwave sweeps through Paris at the beginning of June. And sometimes, the heat has to be turned on.
Generally, however, June is quite mild and not as warm as one would wish, when the day is not sunny.

Rd

We were in Paris last June (2006)it was uncomfortably hot especially on the Metro's. But hey with the unpredictability of the weather these days who knows?

gracejoan3

Weather and temperatures are unpredictable all over the world. If A/C is important to you, then I think you should make certain that you rent a place with it..whether or not, you need to use it often, or at all!

Personally, I would not rent one without it, that time of the year.

Enjoy..........

ira

HI C,

Being from GA, you know that it ain't the heat so much as the humidity.

Would one night of hot and humid weather ruin your vacation?

How about 2 nights?

gwizz

We've been to Paris several times in early June (late May) and as has been reported sometimes hot, sometimes not. But when it is hot, I don't want to sweat in my bed so we do book in hotels with ac. But we're pretty picky. Have heard others complain about not having ac, however.

nytraveler

How tolerant are you of heat and/or street noise? I have been in Paris in June when it was over 90 during the day - though this is rare. And - if you want to cool off at night the windows don;t have screens and you may get street noise - depending on the apartment's locale.

I would never stay in Paris in June without AC (but I can;t sleep at all if the temp is over 72 and hate any temp over 80). But - be aware that very few apartments in Paris have AC - and the ones that do will most likely not be like american AC - but sort of a coolish fan thing (not like my 14,000 BTU that cools the room so you can hang meat).

One reason I have given up the idea of renting an apartment versus a hotel.

fmpden

It is a coin toss. We were in Paris for the World Cup finals in late June several years ago and it was very chilly. Last year during the first of week of June in Rome it was so cold that sidewalk cafe did not open. Cold must follow us.

djkbooks

We were thrilled to have a/c one June when temps were in the 90's for a week straight (followed by a week of chilly weather).

I was glad to have it last May/early June.

We stayed in an apartment without a/c last September. A few days, temps were in the high 70's and the apartment was warm, especially in the afternoon with the sun shining in, but we were fine at night for sleeping with the windows open and a fan. Most buildings have very thick walls, double glazed windows, and light blocking drapes or shades. But, the apartment was too warm (on the warmer days) to consider dressing up for the evening and heading out.

But, if you think you'd be uncomfortable without it, get the a/c. After being out and about all day in warm/hot weather, it's great to come "home" to a cool apartment or hotel room. It's also miserable dressing for the day or evening in a hot room/apartment.

kerouac

It might worthy of note that due to environmental concerns, French administrations are moving AWAY from air conditioning. In the city of Paris, all new administrative buildings are supposed to be without traditional air conditioning and use only environmentally safe cooling systems.

AnthonyGA

They'll change their minds as the temeprature continues to rise. They have absolutely no clue in the world when it comes to cooling and air conditioning, but circumstances will force them to learn, sooner or later. There are no substitutes for real air conditioning. And there isn't anything particularly harmful about air conditioning.

I find it amusing that Europeans worry so much about air conditioning but do not hesitate to throw staggering amounts of energy away by overheating their buildings in both winter and summer. I've actually had to use air conditioning intermittently this winter, not because it was hot outside, but because it was the only way to counter the extreme overheating of the building (which is centrally heated). Talk about a waste of energy!

Anyway, summer in Paris is hot these days. It wasn't hot twenty years ago, but times have changed … dramatically. If you don't have A/C in summer, you risk ruining your vacation with the heat.

NeoPatrick

What does moving away from traditional air conditioning systems in favor of new environmentally friendly systems have to do with the issue? Yes, of course they are, just as cars have moved to new environmentally friends systems as well. Freon has become a thing of the past and there are new methods. But it's still air conditioning! Please don't try to suggest that all new buildings in Paris are being built WITHOUT air conditioning -- just the opposite!

kerouac

Nope, I was just talking about administrative buildings belonging to the city of Paris -- things like social aid offices. Don't worry -- the tourists will not be deprived of anything.

NeoPatrick

I think you missed my point, kerouac. Those new office buildings ARE being built with air conditioning. Don't confuse the fact that they are now using environmentally friendly systems instead of the archaic ones as being the same as "building without air conditioning". Are are you really suggesting that the new buildings will be built WITHOUT air conditioning?

Dukey

When will people accept the fact that "air conditioning" includes cooling in the Summer just as it includes heating in the Winter?

AnthonyGA

What makes an air-conditioning system "environmentally friendly"?

All refrigeration systems work against nature, whereas all heating systems work with nature. That's a consequence of physics, not anything intrinsically "bad" about refrigeration. It's easy to heat something. A perfectly insulated building will become unbearably hot after a time even in the coldest climate, and even without a heating system. But refrigeration is different: you're trying to remove heat from an area even though the natural tendence of heat is to increase and spread, and so you must constantly fight against nature.

Worse yet, it's much easier to live without heat than to live without cooling, for the same reasons of physics. Human beings produce heat with their own bodies. This means that, with appropriate clothing, they can survive in just about any environment on Earth without extra heating—all they need is something to retain the heat they already produce. The situation is the opposite with cooling: if a human being cannot be cooled by external means, he will die of hyperthermia very quickly. Sweating helps for mildly warm temperatures, but at higher temperatures and high levels of humidity, refrigeration is essential.

Europeans often don't understand this because Europe has been cold for the past few centuries (especially up until 1860 or so). Now it's getting hot again, and it looks like they'll have to learn how to deal with it the hard way. And, unfortunately, there isn't really any highly efficient way of cooling.

NeoPatrick

"What makes an air-conditioning system "environmentally friendly"?'

I'm going to assume this is a serious question and that you don't know. For years most air conditioning systems have relied on Freon for a coolant. Freon has been known for a long time to be extremely hazardous to the ozone when released. It has been banned in many places and is being totally phased out in AC units. In fact, at least in the US Freon will be banned totally from production in the next 10 years or so. It has been replaced with "environmentally friendly" replacements such as Puron, which is chlorine free and safe for the environment.

So back to the statement above " In the city of Paris, all new administrative buildings are supposed to be without traditional air conditioning and use only environmentally safe cooling systems," that is the sort of thing it's referring to and certainly not that the buildings themselves won't have mechanical air conditioning systems.