That's not an unusual temperature in the summer in Central Europe. Still, people do fine without AC. I find this "I'm not going to suffer through that" attitude strangely disconcerting.

On the flip side, the costs for building a house are getting higher in higher every year not in small parts because the requirements for insulation and energy efficiency where I currently live in Europe have started to become borderline ridiculous.

Its 87F in late-afternoon Paris right now and 83F in London. Where I'm from the humidity would make this unbearable. Perhaps Paris isn't the same, but I wouldn't want to take the chance. I'd rather be able to set my own temperature.

For the record, I'm curious as to why the attitude of wanting a high standard of living is disconcerting.

As others have said, humidity makes an absolutely staggering difference.

fair enough, that's pretty damn hot. When you said cooler, I thought you meant something like a moderate year-round temperature - though with global warming even that probably isn't going to stick around long-term; we're going through a scorching summer (77F is a lot for us) in the UK right now.

I have a dryer but not really any room for a dishwasher unless I got a countertop unit; I live in a normal-sized starter house in the UK.