We NEED air-conditioning

I have a sore throat and a headache through trying to keep cool. When contractor attends tomorrow i will be suitably attired for a. the time of year and b. the sweatbox i have to live in

Had it installed in the bedroom last year cost £1100 works brilliantly well worth it for a good nights sleep

No, nor me, we have a 4.5 all year round and I just sleep under a sheet though DH likes a duvet.

I second the previous posters about mobile units. We have a couple and I wouldn't be without them. I think they cost around £500 each, but they have been well worth the money.

They also function as a normal fan and dehumidifier which is great.

I would like to put in installed air con but we are moving in less than two years so I don't want to go through the hassle and expense of fitting it, I hate having work done on the house and would rather wait and have it installed in the new house before we move in.

We have an awning on the south east side which we pull out first thing in the morning, it does make a difference as the big patio doors don't get direct sun so don't radiate heat into the room. Awnings are expensive though, I would have thought that a clothes line above the window with a white sheet on it would do the job?

I bought a portable air conditioner more than two years ago and bought another in the spring so that I can have them in two rooms. They're noisy but it does make it possible for me to get to exist in hot weather and to sleep.
If you have access to Which.com you can see which ones they recommend. Obviously they're not cheap but I bought mine out of season as warehouse deals and they do work very well.
Bear in mind that you either need a fitting to enable you to put the hose out of the window without letting hot air in, or you need to have a hole drilled in your exterior wall.
I know that they are power guzzlers so I only use mine on really hot, humid days, on less hot days I use a tower fan, keep the windows/blinds closed on the sunny side of the house and only open the windows once it's cooler in the evening.

Turbo floor fans are good too. I got one in Robery Dyas for £35.

I've got the Meaco air con unit from John Lewis. South facing flat. Worth every penny.

Am I missing something re: fans/humidifiers/dehumidifiers etc.... don't they also run on electricity like aircon units?

Why are fans not bad for the environment but aircon is? Particularly if the aircon is only on for an hour or so to reduce room temp whilst a fan is on all night to keep the breeze going?

Our is a newish build to, if you look at the link I added you will see they do one's that don't hang that low and yes you still get good air flow. The only compromise we had to make was the kids can't have them as they have high sleepers in their rooms so they have. Round stand fans, again they a quite and do a good job.

We have a/c installed in all the upstairs rooms. It's lovely. Wouldn't be without it.

If you cannot get a mobile unit, how much would a couple of nights in an air conditioned hotel cost each year?

I am 39 and struggle massively with the humidity. Not sure if it's peri menopause or what....it was awful today in London, especially early morning

Ours is a new build too. We just have a ceiling fan with a short drop. Husband is 6'5" and can walk underneath it.

@Toastghost yes our portable one is loud for sure, but we don't need to run it through the night.

It was so loud it was like being on a plane. I looked it up at the time and apparently all the portable ones are that loud.

lovely icy air while it was on, though!

Perhaps the answer here is that we need to stop glorifying uncomfortably hot weather?

I felt embarassed when I saw that Sun headline years ago that said "Super Scorchio!" Probably written by someone with intelligence far below average.

How do you manage on the motorway?

Made a sandwich...........sweated my guts out
went to the loo sweated my guts out
Guess im going to need much more than one bath today. Thats right the ones pearl clutching over AC a BATH I dont have a shower.
Im not staying a sweaty mess just to please others.

We live in a new build and if we had a ceiling fan, we'd all be decapitated by now

I wouldn't buy a car without ac and my house has it too. Love it

We installed air conditioning units and consider it to have been a great investment. My husband and I are both from countries where air con is standard, and really felt it’s absence living in the UK.

Do it, we have a large mobile unit. Life. Changing. We use it far more than you would think. All the people saying go and sit in Starbucks when it’s hot for an hour, mine is cheaper to run for the day.

to be honest I'm quite surprised that a fair few MNers do have AC at home. I didn't think it was really a thing in the UK.

I think it'll be an increasing phenomenon here. I just wish there was a more attractive way of doing it, the units look so unsightly clinging to the side of homes! I will only put it in our bedroom because the external wall is sheltered and not visible from the front 😂

I’d have a terrible nights sleep if it was in the room.

I've always found turning it on an hour before going to bed got the room cool enough for the majority of the enight. It's warmer by the early hours of course but not insufferably so, no way I'd try to sleep with the sound of the unit 😂