We have a split system air conditioner. We can just put it on for the two rooms we are using rather than the whole house. Our house is extremely well insulated so we only need to put the air con on for a short time e.g. 30 minutes, and then turn it off when the required temperature is reached. It stays fairly well within the comfortable range for some hours, usually. Later in the day we might put it on again and then turn it off. If ours was powered by solar or wind energy, even better but the changeover to alternative power is on our budget list for the very near future.

We are lucky we have a well-insulated house. It would not be appropriate for us to cast aspersions on other people who are not so lucky, especially in an emergency, a health-threatening or life-or-death situation.

I'm with Maggie. This heatwave has been declared as an emergency. Lives and health are very much at stake. Common sense has to prevail during emergency situations. Those stats on how much power air conditioners use are possibly/probably based on them being on for at least 12 hours per day, and also have to take into account lots of very large buildings like my previous workplace and not just individual dwelling places.

Yes, climate action is a top priority but lives and health in an emergency must be protected.

And countries where heatwaves are not common has the increased risk of people not knowing which precautions to take, and possibly underestimating the gravity of the situation, taking unnecessary risks and putting their health and/or their lives in danger.