Those who left Hong Kong for Britain may be missing the ubiquitous cooling in homes as the UK swelters this summer
3-MIN READ3-MINAlex LoAlex Lo has been an SCMP columnist since 2012, covering major issues affecting Hong Kong and the rest of China. Published: 5:30am, 1 Jul 2026When I was still working from the South China Morning Post’s office in Hong Kong, I fought with my expat colleagues throughout the summer over control of the thermostat.
When my late boss Simon, who was British, told me he didn’t have air con at home, I was flabbergasted. How could anyone survive without one in Hong Kong, I asked. He gave me a smug look.
My American colleagues have no such problem. It turns out that nearly nine in 10 households in the United States have some type of air conditioning, which is slightly lower than Japan and South Korea, according to data from the International Energy Agency and other surveys. In Hong Kong, more than 90 per cent of households rely on some type of cooling.
