We NEED air-conditioning

Over the last month my whole house AC has used 98kwh of energy. Actually all from the sun but if this had been from the grid thats about 20kg co2.

That is the same as the average car driving less than 50 miles. eating less than a kilo of beef. Flying for 15 mins. etc...

You get the point, there are a lot of things worse for the environment.

Exactly. And the whole ‘the cold weather lasts longer’ is just a moot point anyway - it’s all proportional.

So why is it that it is okay for you to heat your home for 10 months of the year, but not for me to cool mine for that same amount time?

good point! and I find it very acceptable to cool my home down as well as heat it up

My air con isn’t on all the time.

And it doesn’t matter that the hot weather is only short lived. It literally floors me when it’s too hot to the point I can hardly move of the sofa. It stops me getting more ill.

two years ago when it was really hot we moved our table and big parasol over to the patio doors and the difference it made was colossal, the glass never got hot - but that's a bit of a faff to do so this year I bought a half parasol with base, so the parasol now butts right up flat to the side of the house and is easy to put up and down as we need it, so like a mini awning really, the half base and half parasol cost around £60, thinking of getting another one actually for the kitchen window, very effective

Yes, I heat my home as this country is freezing and wet 10 months of the year. (The heating isn't on all that time obvs).

THIS!

I never understand why it’s acceptable to heat a home but not cool them.

You know the answer will be "only on the 2 days of the year that it's actually cold" 🤣

Do you heat your home?

At far less than 100 watts electricity consumption per hour for fitted air con I think your anger would be better directed at people who eat beef and pork

I've got a eva polar (a mini air cooler, but there are lots of other brands), was cheap, uses little electricity and is great for one person.

Haven't read the full thread so don't know if anyone else has suggested this. But what I've found surprisingly effective is opening our loft hatch in the evening to let all the hot air that's risen to the first floor escape upwards - our bedroom is now bearable overnight.

I am also in a hot country and don't have an aircon, as mentioned upthread we just have ceiling fans.

BUT

My house is not double storey and is built for our hot climate. As a result it is bloody freezing in the winter (like now).

I think the argument could be the very same as to why I had a log burner installed, when I only use it for maximum 2 - 3 months of the year.

I cannot imagine trying to sleep in 30 degree indoor temp as a pp mentioned.

Just the same as I don't want to watch tv in the lounge in the winter in single digits temps or go to bed at 7pm which is what many people do, I am going to try find a way to live as comfortably as possible.

Are you all saying that heating doesn't contribute to climate change as much as aircon does?

"what is on your dinner plate?" Veggie food. Purchased when walking to the supermarket so rarely need to use the car. And walking though the streets I litter pick because I'm trying to minimise my footprint on the earth and make it a tiny bit better. I'm in a second hand t-shirt, waiting for laundry to finish to line dry it.
So, I think I can get a bit stroppy about the increase in air con as it damages my environment too.

There's so much misinformation on this post.

Proper fitted split air con (costs about £1500) per room costs around 5 pence (250wh) to keep a bedroom at 21c overnight. Our downstairs AC costs 5p per hour to run in the day when it's hot. On renewable electricity tarriff

3000 people died due to the heat waves in 2022 in the UK...

To all the people claiming it is bad for the environment, what is on your dinner plate?

It's nonsense..if you can afford the air con unit, do it. It's a no brainer. No more faffing around putting DC in danger with only wet towels to try and stay cool. We are safe knowing we can get the lounge down to a safe temp easily. We all sleep in there (biggest room). The bedrooms become dangerously hot so can't be used.

The unit was £350 and loud but works very well.

In the previous house we never had a problem with heat - because it was a Victorian single skin brick house!!! Lovely and cool in summer.

This house is 1960s so much warmer all year round - I am not complaining, winter is lovely and warm, inexpensive to heat, and the heat stays!

Friends in newer builds suffer immensely in summer. I think the problem is only going to get worse.

It's corporations who are responsible for global warming, not individual people trying to stay safe in dangerously high indoor temps.

How do you suck in cooler air when it's 30degrees outside?

I've been contemplating getting a portable air con unit as I'm now on 2 medications that mess with body temp regulation as a side effect and I'm so intolerant to heat.
It's already a stressful mission every time we have a hot spell, waking as early as possible to get as cool air to flow through with fans at the windows. Then it's shut the windows and block out the sun before it heats the place up again, then it may stay reasonable cool till late afternoon. Usually on the evening of the hottest night some arsehole nearby will decide to have a fire so you can't open the windows till late.

The problem is when it doesn't drop below 20c overnight and have a couple of hot days in a row the building holds the heat so would prefer a reliable way to help reduce inside temp, I don't think I'd need to run air con for long if continue with my usual measures. If you insulate the unit hose and the window gap to reduce warming air back in the room it shouldn't need to work as hard, apparently the dual hose are more efficient but these aren't easily available in UK at least. If I didn't rent i'd try ceiling fans and would prefer an outdoor unit that also offers heating in winter which works like a heat pumps so fairly efficient. Unfortunately I'm not on ground floor as I think it would help a lot to cover the outside of the windows at the rear with reflective sun shade fabric so the window pane doesn't heat up at all.

I've got blackout blinds and curtains at every door and window, and I still struggle with any heat.
I'm regularly seen out walking my dog in jeans and a t-shirt in the snow, and so many people ask me every year "aren't you freezing dressed like that?", and my response is that I'm actually quite warm. I've also got an ice making machine running all year round.
Yes, being post-menopausal affects my internal temperature gauge, but my biggest problem is the heat intolerance caused by MS, and I've been struggling with that for 47 years, I only did menopause a few years ago.
I've learnt that I have to do whatever I can to keep my body from shutting down due to overheating.

No they don't, they control a huge amount of oil production which makes them immune to lectures and essentially untouchable on the global stage.

So Dubai and Saudi Arabia often get lectured told this?

I just use a big fan on the windowsil to suck in cooler air. Works well!

Everyone, which makes the global situation even more precarious

Yep the menopause is deffo the same for every woman And curtains do nothing when you rent off an HA that turns the place into a sweatbucket so they can get funding and contractors get ££££