Anyone had Air Con fitted during this heatwave? It's going to be the new normal now so considering it as fans do nothing!!!

[Eggybreadwithnuts]

Anyone?

Considering an air to air heat pump.

We have a portable unit in our bedroom. We bought it about 5 years ago and it’s been on every night since late May. 100% worth the £500.

We have looked into a wall mounted one for our living/dining/kitchen area as we can shut off all the doors. The unit will be about £4.5k. Not sure about labour yet. We will look to getting it installed in winter and will get a heater and air con one to have just in case the boiler breaks. The heat is not going away so we see it as an investment in our property.

Gold medal in the post for your selflessness I guess? Good for you 👏 Better not use any central heating in the winter either because that also uses energy

Genuinely dont understand the sanctimonious attitude many Europeans have towards air conditioning. I've lived in the US for years, in the desert, and its a necessity. If I ever move back I will 100% at least get an ac unit in the bedrooms. Its ok to be comfortable at night time you know 😄 also, ceiling fans are normal here too and work wonders. Why are people acting like this is a new thing though? When I lived in London almost 20 years ago, I remember having to trek to buy a big fan and carry it home because it was 30 degrees for weeks. And we used it for years most summers, because it was hot. Shocking

We have a simple ceiling fan/light unit in our bedroom, which works brilliantly and is quiet.I would love to have one in every room.

I have memories of using an aircon unit in Italy, which tripped the electrics every time we switched anything else on.

We had it installed in some bedrooms a few years ago. It’s life changing although I still struggled this heatwave as it’s not sufficient to cool the downstairs. It’s the first thing I would spend my money on if I moved again, but this time have it covering all floors.

My friend's installed one for heating and hers does cooling too. Not to ac extent but she says it lowered the temp of rooms by several degrees which was enough to keep them comfortable. I hadn't realised they could do that.

My new neighbour had them fitted in her bungalow before she moved in as part of a huge renovation, she has them in most of the rooms, vented into the roof space then out through air bricks. I was very tempted but my bungalow has a dormer bedroom so my main rooms are all downstairs with no roof access.

My neighbour had been using a portable unit while waiting for her full system to be installed and she has lent it to me to try. It’s brilliant, I use it in my bedroom over night and in my lounge during the day. It’s a bit heavy ( I am 70) but I can push it on the castors the short distance between the two rooms on laminate flooring, luckily I have plug sockets close to each doorway so don’t have far to move it.

It does not have vents, the moisture collects in an internal tank similar to a condensing tumble dryer, which I need to empty every week or so.

I plan to buy one once they are back in stock, might even get two depending on the price! It has certainly helped me sleep better while I’m recovering from knee replacement surgery.

Totally agree. I'm trying to find other ways to cool the house but it's not an easy solution !

We are renovating and will get aircon. I was concerned about the climate change aspect but we are also installing a heat pump and solar panels. Realistically when we need the aircon on the solar panels will be producing more electricity than we need so with a couple fl batteries we can power the aircon without taking extra electricity from the grid

No I am in the SE. The hottest part and bedrooms are hot but we are all fine. Aside from many 6 nights i found difficult i still managedto sleep. We do use fans but some nights ive managed without that too.

Air con makes us more sick and I always end up feeling an unnatural cold in the UK as it's hardly ever consistently hot enough I have a high heat toleranceand cosider anything less than 32c just warm /very warn in places. . I'd only consider if if it was a proper hot country in summer that does months of consistent 35c + and extremely high humidity with constant tropical nights. Ive needed my duvet nearly night here. I am being honest as well so we do exist!! I've not found it boiling hot aside from many 6 days in total and even some of the more extreme supposed hot days hasn't been for that hot for me. .mind you i like all seasons for their own reasons but look forward to winter to having a rest this winter after such a hectic busy
summer.

I think most of us who had it installed in only some parts of the house are now wishing to have it covering the entire house :) It makes such a difference.

A person I know who owns AC installing company said they are working through a backlog of 1300 inquiries and have never seen it this busy.

@cmonspring unfortunately I think it does need an outside wall.
Or possibly a vented chimney breast.
My guess is that solutions will be worked out by companies soon.

So our two bedrooms face the front and bathroom to the back. Usually the bathroom door is shut so dont really cool there. We have it in the biggest front bedroom it with the pipe out the window the unit faves the door and points toward the hall and stairs.. Not fancy but it does the job and have been so grateful whilst it has been hot!

"My new neighbour had them fitted in her bungalow before she moved in as part of a huge renovation, she has them in most of the rooms, vented into the roof space then out through air bricks"
Have you got any roof space where this might be done?

Getting a quote next week. Have an estimated 8-12k cost for a small 4 bed detached multi room , would be £20k for a fully vented system using the loft space.

I honestly think that there's a large proportion of the population who are either masochists or martyrs, or both. F*ck that!

We’ve booked to have a multi split system installed in the south facing rooms in our house (living room and 2 bedrooms). The outdoor unit is going on the wall outside one of the bedrooms.

We knew we planned to do this once we moved into this house and to get solar panels to run it as well, originally thinking in the next 3 years or so. We’ve had to bring forward getting the AC though as we’re having a baby and the temperatures we’ve had in the house this summer aren’t safe. We’re also installing passive measures like external shutters (replaced the windows with this in mind) and a shade sail and thinking about painting the back of the house exterior white.

@PermanentTemporary AC systems in the U.K. are air to air heat pumps, they can heat as well. They have to be to avoid planning permission requirements.

Nope but we had it fitted last year and it’s lush. Best £3.5k we’ve ever spent! I’ve actually been wearing winter pyjamas to bed. We’ve got it in our bedroom and the office, next on the list is the living room.

Our big old fan was brilliant - until it died on me on the hottest day….🥵

I am on a waitlist.

The more I have looked into it the more I think it will actually save us energy. So I am super excited.

It can heat in winter too.

It used to be fairly normal to pretend it never really got properly hot in the UK. That’s why cars weren’t routinely fitted with air con - I dare say quite a few of us can remember that far back….

Thats not true, travel in the summer to Italy, France and Spain and there are public announcements to reduce the use of them and to not have it too cold, so 18 degrees rathe rthan 15 for example

It increases the energy consumption enormously if you do things like leave doors or windows open when it's running. In homes where I live in SE Asia the norm is to cool only the room you are using (like your bedroom when you're sleeping or office when you're working) and you keep the doors shut so the aircon doesn't leak out. Often at night time the aircon will use barely any power beyond an initial spike to cool the room as once the temperature drops sufficiently outside the room stays cool without any active cooling. But if you had your door open it would keep running all night long. Often in the mornings when I open the windows and doors my bedroom is the same temperature as the outside but the living room and kitchen is noticeably hotter.

Really?? Even at 18° you'd freeze!!