A/C, is it needed in Paris in June?

Do you mind a hot and muggy apartment if a heatwave hits? Are you used to not having a cool space to sleep in? If you’re ok with what a heatwave would feel like in apt without AC, you’re good to go.

Heat waves and unusual weather can hit at any time. We visited during a warm muggy storm in June once- and that AC came in handy to cool the space.

This is a personal preference question. I don’t rent rooms or apts without AC unless it is impossible to really need it. For example a coastal town where it is ALWAYS cool and breezy.

"Will we regret not getting a/c in our accommodations for the beginning of June?"
People who think to ask about AC need to get AC in my opinion. I think people who don't have it are used to the muggy rooms etc. and know how to deal with it. We have an apartment in Paris that we renovated and added AC. The contractor understood why we wanted AC but the whole time he was working on the project he (and two of my nosy neighbors) would say that it was our only choice that screamed American owner. You can find AC in an apartment but it is going to hike the price up (it's very expensive to put AC into an apartment in Paris) and at that point you will probably be able to find hotel rooms at just about the same price point.
I've never seen a window in a Paris apartment with safety bars and I looked at a lot apartments during my almost three years of looking for a place.

I guess my problem is I don't know what a heatwave in June in Paris is like? I've never actually felt hot in Europe in an accommodation so I don't know if we got lucky or if that was normal and were find with it. Last time I was in Europe it was for 6 weeks in June/July it wasn't hot to us (we did Germany and Italy) and we didn't have a/c in anything and were fine, but we were traveling without kids. I've only ever been to Paris in March, and I froze lol.

Look at historical temperature records to decide. Personally I always pay up for a rental or hotel room with A/C. I have had rooms in Europe before without it, and leaving open a window at night can be problematic due to street noise, and unless you can open a window with cross ventilation to exchange the warm air in the room with cooler nighttime air, you won't get much relief.

Europe is in a drought and an energy crisis. I think is possible that sooner or later AC and heat thermostats in Europe will have limits and you will not be able to exceed them. Already most places ask you to turn off AC when you leave the room/hotel. Often they will do so if you don’t do it.
So coming back to your hotel room on a 90 degree day and opening the door to your room where it is now 90+ degrees, it is not a relief.
To top it off, most modern hotels are built only to be liveable only with sufficient heat and AC to keep comfortable.
You may encounter such things as no AC or heat in museums, restaurants, anything indoors.
Europe may no longer be any fun for climate control going forward.
There has been much news lately about English pubs having to increase prices to very high levels, such as £20 for a beer (yikes) in response to increased energy costs.
I am sure the mainland of Europe will not be immune to the same thing.

There were heatwaves in Europe last June that brought temperatures in Paris to nearly 100 degrees. And Europe frequently has high humidity during summer.
If past is prologue, then, yes AC is necessary in Paris even in June.

Early June--the only heat wave in early June that I remember was in 1976. Most started late June, after the 21st or July or August or none at all. I've even had to buy a sweater or a jacket some years in early June. But JHK is correct that if you asked, then you should be prepared. Surrounded by so much water, the weather can be fickle.

In many residential buildings in Paris, A/C units are prohibited. They consume huge amounts of electricity, and the condenser fans create a great deal of noise. If you typically keep your home at 25°/26°C or 78/79, you should be comfortable. Open the windows at night, use fans, close the windows in the morning as temperatures begin to climb. People thrived for a long time before A/C was invented, but if you must have A/C, stay in a hotel.

We’ve been to Paris during heat waves and have even bought fans for apartments where we’ve stayed. The last time we stayed in an apartment where we had previously had to buy a fan, they now had 3 fans and we were able to sleep fairly well. We’ve learned to close shutters and blinds during the heat of the day while we are out and can manage in a warm apartment. If I had the choice of an apartment with no AC vs a hotel with AC during summer months, I’d choose a hotel but I understand that this can different during in this energy crisis.

We were in Paris last May….got very hot….we are accustomed to a ceiling fan stirring over us as we sleep at night and asked the hotel if they could give us some AC…..the gal said they were not programmed to turn on until June 1…….so she gave us a fan to use in our room so we would at least have air moving……we ALWAYS look for AC as the weather is so unpredictable. We also do something that is very strange to others….we own a small metal portable fan from WalMart that we always take with us…..cheap and sturdy……serves 2 purposes……moves the air and makes white noise to drown out the street…….so so so worth it tho on this last trip we needed more than just it…….years ago we were in the south of France in July during a record heat wave……we were conferencing in Marseilles and we had friends offering us untold amounts of $ for our $15 American fan!

It was pretty cool when we were in France in June this year, but a few days after we left, there was a heatwave. I would try to find a place with air conditioning just in case. If you don't need it, great. But if you do, you will be really glad you had it.

When we were in Chester England in June 2018, we had an attic room (because that is where they put the family rooms). It had a window, and a fan, but no air conditioning. It was not terribly hot, but at night in that attic room it was! I really wished I had found a place with air conditioning. So I would recommend that anytime after April, try to find a room with air conditioning. There's nothing worse than not being able to sleep because it's too hot.

If you are used to A/C, best to get a place with A/C. We've been in Paris in June with temperatures in the mid 90s (35c) and high 80s as early as April. The A/C was sure appreciated.

Apartments du Louvre, https://www.apartmentsdulouvre.com/home, have two bedroom units with A/C. My mother & I stayed in one their units in the Le Marais building last Nov/Dec. The family ran business has two buildings (Le Marais & St. Honore) both with small elevators.

Sorry, crazy (and lifelong airconditionless) German here, but:

Already most places ask you to turn off AC when you leave the
room/hotel. Often they will do so if you don’t do it.

Do people actually leave their air conditioning on when they are not at home? That is wild.

Do people actually leave their air conditioning on when they are not at home? That is wild.

Guilty as charged, but my excuse is that I live in the deep South in the US, very hot and humid here for half the year or more. If I am going to be out for several hours, I may bump up the thermostat a bit...

Sorry I don't know how to quote Azru but it depends on the ac system. If you have a window a/c, or older central a/c, you generally shouldn't leave it on when gone, but we have a new high efficiency, undersized, central a/c system in our house that uses less energy if you leave it at a stable temperature so even when we're out for the day we leave it at 78/80 F.

"Do people actually leave their air conditioning on when they are not at home? "

Yes. I don't know anyone who turns off the AC when they leave the house unless they are going to be gone for a few days.

Wouldn't get a place without it

If you are used to AC in hot weather, let alone a heat wave, then I would absolutely suggest getting it. If you can live without it, regardless of the heat and humidity, then don't get it. You yourself know what your comfort or tolerance level.

I don't need the AC, have been through heat waves in Paris when it was a broiler, ie, 90 F or so in the summer, which is the time I always go to Europe. My 2 star hotel in Paris is hot anyway. Still, I don't pay extra for that AC luxury in my room.

@Azra, In my US house, when away we'd leave the heat at 16C/60F in winter and the air conditioning at 26C/80F in summer even when in Europe for several months at a time. This is to preserve the structure and evacuate humidity. In France, our apartment is between two others, so we turn our heat off when away. We have never had air conditioning in Europe but are installing one unit in the living room now.

Bets, ahh--ok, that makes sense. We of course also keep our radiators on at 1 or whatever, to keep the interior temperature around 15-16, and then just turn them up when we are using specific rooms.

I suppose the picture that was in my head from the air conditioner comment was those small wall-units that one sees in hotels or so being left on all day.

This is to preserve the structure and evacuate humidity. In France

Exactly why we leave our systems "on" year round, particularly with respect to humidity control.

Of course many people leave the air conditioning on when they leave. Here in South Louisiana, if you don't leave it on in the summer, the house will be a sauna when you return. Mold will start to grow. Not a good situation.

I try to look for a place that has air conditioning. I don't like trying to sleep without it when it's hot.

Thanks everyone, we ended up booking with apartments du louvre. They do have a/c and everything else we were looking for!

I think you'll be glad to have a/c. You may not end up needing it, but if you do need it, you will be so happy to have it (and sleep better and thus get more out of your trip). I wish I had it for sure !!

Do people actually leave their air conditioning on when they are not at home?

In Oklahoma, absolutely. If you turned off the a/c every time you left the house for a few hours, you would spend a heck of a lot more energy cooling it back down than just leaving it on (perhaps at a few degrees' higher temperature). It's less strain on the cooling system than repeatedly asking it to surge to cool off a home that has become too warm (and keep in mind that generally house sizes are a lot bigger in the States too, so concomitantly more space to cool, which again entails even more energy).