the latitude isn't really directly relevant. our climate is caused more by the gulf stream and warm waters/air. it's very mild, not newfoundland.
during summer heat waves it might get above 30 degrees celsius for a few days. we open doors and windows. we have fans, desk fans, ceiling fans. they get used for all of about a week a year, to be honest. we sleep with the windows open, if necessary. we change bedsheets with the seasons. i don't know what to say to you? we have adapted so that we never miss air-conditioning.
isn't air-conditioning expensive a shit to run? why would you throw a giant unit in a window frame when you can just ... open up the window? lots of buildings here have old-style french or sash windows. you can literally just throw the whole thing up and it lets in/out a lot of air.
How about clothes dryers? I noticed a lot of people don't have them
clothes driers are more common, especially in modern buildings or apartments, but we generally tend to air-dry things. again, it's probably for cultural reasons more than the technological wherewithal. i have a clothes drier but i never use it. only for towels or bedsheets or large things i need in a trice. putting clothes in the drier ruins them and ages them like 10x as fast.
it seems like europe in general just has a less energy-consuming and wasteful approach to things? i don't know.