Why don’t we just all get ac?

[JacketPotatoFoodOfTheGods]

Honestly, it’s what the rest of the world does…

Bits of the grid are about to melt with current demand.

Addressing better insulation, building standards etc as in the Passivhaus model would be cheaper in the long run and not add to the energy which just makes climate change worse.

I have an old terrace house - with good double glazing and roof insulation it stays cool enough.

Can’t afford it. Obs 🤷‍♀️

Air con units can be picked up for as little as £200 why the hell would you suffer? I wouldn’t bother installing it properly because it’s not like we live in Florida but I couldn’t live without and have a couple of units upstairs

It's expensive because it's not as simple as being the opposite of heating. We can create heat, but we can't create cool. Cooling requires removing heat, which is more complex and uses up a lot more resources.

£200 is a lot of money for some people.

Can’t afford it but will be saving up as I hate summer

Not everyone needs it. The downstairs areas of my home are cool even in the middle of the day.

You can if you like. It’s not a group activity. The temp varies about 15 degrees depending upon where you are in Britain.

I would but I live in a HA flat that I despise so even if I were allowed to instal it - which I wouldn’t be - it’s an expense I’m not willing to pay. If I owned the place and loved it then probably,

Those £200 units don’t work very well, do they?

I don't have £200. Plus I'm assuming I need one in each room. So 3 bedrooms and a lounge is £800. Plus the extra electricity.
Plus as a PP said, using them is contributing to global warming so making the problem worse in the long run.

Why should the North pay for the South?

The government will have to incentivise it. Where I live there's been a massive push towards heat pumps. We got almost 50% back in rebates and our hydro (electric) bill has gone down by about 40%. They're really energy efficient. Heat in the winter and cool in the summer. After the heat dome where we hit 40°c I was definitely getting it.

I don’t have one downstairs because downstairs is cooler and I can keep myself cool during the day. What I can’t cope with is sleeping in a boiling bedroom so have one in my room and one is DD’s room because she sleeps on a high rise bed and heat rises, other dd prefers her fan but if she’s desperate like tonight she will sleep in her sisters room or mine.

Air conditioning uses a lot of electricity, which makes it an expensive luxury.

Pleased to see others already got in before me with the climate reminder; we really ought to burn less fossil fuels, not more, in an effort to counter the effects of burning too much.è

I had it fitted last year. It’s blissful in this heat. I can also use it for heat when needed.

DH and I had a small AC in our bedroom for about 3 years. In the summer, we basically lived in that room. It wasn’t as awkward as you’d think. After we had a child, a window unit in her bedroom. No problems, good sleep. We had to save for these, but it was worth it. Before that, just windows and box fans. Where I live, 2 weekends ago the heat index said the temperature felt like 33.44 C.(103 F.). Air con seemed like a life saver. Still, I know we are very lucky.

How is the north paying for the south?

It's expensive, bad for the environment, makes the problem worse and we don't need it. Especially not for a few days a year.

We're in Hampshire so hot at the moment but neither ds nor I have issues sleeping in the heat.

Our sitting room is on the north end of the house, shaded by a large tree so it stays cooler.

Drinking plenty of water, keeping % body fat low, moving slowly and staying out of the midday sun all help.

I think the point is that in the north it isn’t so hot so yes, the north would kind of be subsidising those suffering from the heat in the south.

I hadn’t thought of that, but GPWM.

Because it costs an absolute fortune. Not just the installation and the running costs but also the maintenance. We just spent $1.5k replacing the Freon in our two home systems and it might well need doing again next year.

We live in the US where Summers would be unbearable without it so we have to have it but we live in an old house (for here, no older than most UK houses) and it was tricky to install in such an old property, hence why we have two systems. It’s a necessary expense of life here but it isn’t in the UK for the less than half a dozen days of the year you would need. I wouldn’t want to pay for ac out of a British salary.

😂

The north is definitely hot. I’m in the northwest and it was 33 degrees today.