to buy an air con unit?

[IRememberXanadu]

I thought I liked hot weather but I'm now finding the constant heat too much. A week or so ago, my OH suggested buying a portable air con unit, and initially I thought it was a waste of money. But after another sleepless night because of the heat I'm coming round to the idea.

Does anyone have one? Do you like them? Any recommendations?

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This thread is from last year so some of the suggestions may be out of date, but we’ve recently updated our best air conditioner page with lots of great Mumsnetter-approved AC units, plus info on whether they're the right choice for you this summer! We hope it’s useful.
MNHQ

[LieutenantRipley]

Totally totally recommend! We bought one years ago when DD was a baby, during a really hot summer. It's been invaluable during the hot periods since.

Cools a room down beautifully, and we can keep the whole first floor cool too - just close all the curtains and shut all the windows then put a normal fan in the doorway of the room with the air con in, so that the cool air is also blown out and 'shared' into the hallway and other rooms too.

One thing I would say is to make sure you have space to put it directly underneath a large window - usually the venting hoses aren't very long and don't stretch far. Also, look for a quiet-ish model as they can be a bit rumbly when you're trying to sleep (although that could be just because ours is an old one!)

[Findahouse21]

Absolutely love ours! It is quite loud but we like white noise anyway. Like the pp said, it's great having one cool room - during those really hot days I could do stories etc for dc to stop them getting even hotter in their rooms.

[Mydoghealsmyheart]

We love ours, it’s very quiet and very effective. My children have medical conditions exacerbated by high temps and so it was a godsend during the recent heatwave.

[MarsupiIami]

I had one for one summer, it started leaking the next summer (was a fairly cheap one). It was amazing when it worked. I'd buy a more expensive one if I got one again (I can't justify the money atm).

[Signoramarella]

Oh any recommendations which brand or where to buy from? This heat is getting to Me...

[THNG5]

Best things ever. We have 2, currently used in both bedrooms as downstairs isn't too hot. We're currently in the middle of a loft conversion and getting "real" air con put in. I can't stand the heat so it's not a waste of money in my opinion!

[Mydoghealsmyheart]

Ours is a DeLonghi Penguin I think the model is called. The reviews seemed good and it’s no noisier than our fan.

[KangarooKenny]

I’ve had ours for a couple of years, lives in the loft in its box when not needed, and this year it’s not really working. Doesn’t get cold enough,

[Curiosity101]

I love ours. I try to be economical with it as I appreciate they use a lot of energy, but there's nothing better when the bedrooms get hot and you have young children. Sleep is really precious for us so being able to cool the bedrooms down before bed is invaluable.

[TestingTestingWonTooFree]

We use them in the bedrooms, very effective.

[Hugasauras]

We have one but it does guzzle electricity. Works a treat in bedroom though.

[theDudesmummy]

We don't need one where we live, but where we holiday every year we keep one at a friend's place, as we always hire self-catering apartments there, and we save a lot of money by hiring non air-conditioned ones, then putting our air-conditioner in them. I would not be able to holiday there without air-con.

[Sunshineona]

Energy bills 👀

The heatwave is over and energy costs are going through the roof. Seems an odd time to buy one.

Have you tried sleeping with a window open / on the ground floor / sleeping naked with just a cotton sheet?

[Thatnameistaken]

My DP bought one, it was like living next to the M25 I hated it...

[IRememberXanadu]

It sounds like they are worth the investment then. Besides that Da Longhi one, any other brands/models you'd recommend, please?

[LaChatte]

I would love to have one but they're terrible for the environment, not just because of the amount of energy they use (about 60 times more than a fan), but also because of the gas used to cool the air.

[Chakraleaf]

Nope because of energy prices

[Cheeseplant72]

@IRememberXanadu

It sounds like they are worth the investment then. Besides that Da Longhi one, any other brands/models you'd recommend, please?

we just purchased a "Midea Comfee 12000 BTU WiFi Compatible Portable Air Conditioner" from the aircon center online this year, was brilliant in the last heat wave chilled our upstairs very nice.

I just used my PayPal credit paid it off in 3 months interest free payments. You can get window kits from Argos for a £10 if you have tilt and turn windows.

[Pemba]

Do you not live in the UK OP? Here (Midlands) heatwave was a couple of weeks ago and only lasted a few days. I agree the heat can be unpleasant.,but I managed with electric fans for the worst 2 days. At the moment it's 25°C, and grey and cloudy. If it continued like it was for longer I would have considered an air conditioning unit.

[SlickShady]

If you can afford it, I'd go for a split system as they're far quieter. Initial price is probably 4-5 times as much as portable air cons though (but in the long run they're cheaper to run, and far more effective).

On another recent thread someone made the very fair point that cooling your house on the summer is no worse morally than heating your house in the winter.

[JenniferAllisonPhillipaSue]

We have a freestanding unit. It only gets used for a couple of days once, maybe twice, each year - but we wouldn't be without it. When in use, ours sits on the landing with all bedroom doors open in the late afternoon and early evening, cooling down the bedrooms ready for that night's sleep; and then it gets switched off around 10pm.

[LabradorFiasco]

www.inventorappliances.com/portable-air-conditioners/chilly

Best thing we ever bought. Got us through 2 summer babies just under 2 years apart.
Not too expensive to run, pretty quiet and frankly essential when we lived in a new build rented mid-terrace where rooms would hit 35’C. In the recent heatwave it was 40’C outside and 20’C in our bedroom. Amazing!

[Namek]

We are getting air conditioning fitted in our bedroom next week. It was about £2,100 for the product and to fit it.

It’s a Bosch 3000i!

[Pipsickl]

We got ours from screw fix , it was £300 and the best £300 I’ve ever spent. I’ve been pregnant twice in a heatwave and can remember actually crying to my husband about the heat before we bought the air con.

i would highly recommend x

[Allywill]

my husband bought one and we used it during the 2 day heatwave. pros it reduced our bedroom temp from 28 to 22 which made it more comfortable. cons “portable” it ain’t. it weighs a ton lugging it from downstairs to bedroom nearly killed me. it is so noisy it’s impossible to sleep when it’s on and having to have the window open for the vent somewhat negates the cold air benefit. oh and our electric usage doubled on days we used it. overall not that impressed tbh.