If you live in Switzerland, you know that installing something as simple as an AC unit in your home is a complex task. The Local’s Helena Bachmann found that out the hard way.
Depending on the laws in your canton of residence, you may have to sweat it out — literally and figuratively — before you get an official permission (or not) to install a fixed AC unit in your home.
The official reason is that fixed ACs are huge energy guzzlers, consuming a lot of electricity and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions — a major contribution to global warming.
READ MORE: Do you need permission before getting air conditioning in Switzerland?
But here’s the thing: when it is so hot outside that surfaces of motorways crack and railroad tracks get deformed, I like to stay cool in a comfort of my own home. It really isn’t too much to ask for.
READ MORE: How the heatwave has hit daily life in Switzerland
Sweating it out
I have heard that getting a permission to install an AC unit in a house or an apartment (even the one you own) is no simple matter.
Granting such authorisations is up to individual municipalities, so I decided to find out exactly how to go about getting one in mine.
Honestly, it may actually be easier to get a work permit than an AC permit.
This is what my municipality requires:
Contact police
“Before taking any action, it is necessary to contact the Building Police Office” (this is the first time I hear of existence of the Building Police, but okay).
Prepare your application
“You will need to provide plans of your house, the exact planned location for the air conditioner and the technical data of the device (including information on noise and distances to property boundaries).”
Complete cantonal forms
“Specific energy-related forms are required to justify the installation’s consumption.”
Given that the municipal offices in my small community are working on a reduced schedule due to the…heatwave, I am thinking that even if we manage to gather all this paperwork, we would get the permission (if we get it at all) by 2030 at the earliest.
But wait: I see that the path is easier for people with medical conditions.
Hmm, this could possibly be an option (after all, who doesn’t have a medical condition of some sort) – except that, as it turns out, a medical certificate from a doctor, stating that air conditioning is necessary for health reasons – is required, in addition to all the other documents.
The only such condition present in my house is severe allergy to horses, so unless we buy a horse and place it in our living room, the medical certificate will be of no use.
‘Just open your windows’
I decide to visit the municipal office to see if maybe there is additional information that is not included on the website.
Alas, there isn’t.
Before I leave, the municipal employee tells me, “It’s not so bad. Just open all your windows.”
She tells me this while surrounded by three fans blowing at full blast – like THAT is not consuming a lot of energy.
On my way back I meet my neighbour who tells me he has just purchased a portable unit, which he rolls from one room to another, as needed.
“If you place ice cubes on top, it works great,” he says.
So we head to an appliance store and buy two – due to high demand, at an exorbitant price
They are the size of a bus, have an unsightly hose that needs to hang out the window, but never mind.
They do their job just fine, and I am trying not to think of how much electriity they consume and how high the bills will be.
The important thing is that, as I am writing this, I am cool.
