France Orders Air-conditioned Shops to Save Energy by Shutting Doors

By Staff, Agencies

Air-conditioned shops in France will be ordered to keep their doors closed or risk being fined, a minister said while announcing a rule to combat energy wastage.

Leaving the doors open when the air conditioning is on leads to “20% more consumption and … it’s absurd,” French minister of ecological transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, told RMC radio on Sunday.

The minister said there were also plans to restrict the use of illuminated signs.

“In the coming days, I will issue two decrees: the first will widen the ban on illuminated advertising, whatever the size of the city, between 1 am and 6am,” with the exception of airports and stations, Pannier-Runacher told the Journal du Dimanche.

“The second will ban shops from having their doors open while the air conditioning and heating are working.”

Some cities in France, which like other parts of Europe has been gripped by a heatwave, passed municipal bylaws in July, imposing fines for offending air-conditioned shops.

The government plans to extend this to the whole country, with a fine of up to €750 – but will emphasize the education of shopkeepers in the first instance.