Beating the Heat: Why Can't New Builds Have Air Con?

[TeaTimeMum]

I'm not sure what it's like at your end, but it's absolutely hot and humid over here and everything just feels harder—neither staying in nor popping out offers any relief. Whether it’s doing the housework, driving, or even just nipping out for some shopping, the heat just makes it all the more dreadful. And yes, we do moan about the weather a fair bit, but this heat is simply too much. I’ve been wondering, why don’t new builds come with air conditioning as standard? Some might argue that we only have a week or two of this scorching weather in the UK, but these days, air con units can heat as well. So why not fit these versatile systems? We could use it to keep cool in the summer and cozy in the winter.

It's not worth it as we do not have consistenly hot weather. Apart from the last couple of weeks it's been raining for the past 18 months.

The price of electricity would also make it unaffordable for most people. I would love air con. I just can't afford to keep it running.

Because house builders are money grabbing bastards. Taylor Wimpey as an example made a £300 million profit last year.

Stop buying new houses and they’ll have to change their ways

A ceiling fan would be more suitable for our climate. I wonder why more people don't have them

Yes, I was going to say the same. Ceiling fans are the NUTS.

You can put outside blinds or shades over your windows - that will help a lot. Air con is an expensive and environmentally damaging sledgehammer to crack a nut in a country where temps above the low 20s are a very occasional thing

Depends what sort of property you live in. DS lives in top floor apartment (5 storey block) which gets very hot. More thought should definitely have gone into insulation / keeping temperatures down. As soon as it reaches 19 or 20° it gets uncomfortable, so high temperatures are a nightmare.

I would make continental style exterior blinds / awnings compulsory on new builds. They certainly help.

@PrincessTeaSet I doubt a ceiling fan would be a feasible option, as you need a high ceiling for it, and standard houses in the UK, especially new builds have low ceilings

Shutters and proper insulation. I got black out curtains and they made a huge difference.

We had ceiling fans in a previous property and I wouldn't want them again. They are obtrusive on the eye and collect dust in the 49 weeks of the year they aren't used.

The building standards for new-builds are designed to future-proof housing stock for a low-carbon economy so shouldn't include wasteful energy burning like this. They should be designed to promote keeping cool in summer without burning extra electricity. However, an air source heat pump (which I think all new builds are supposed to be built with from 2025) is essentially an air con unit which is pointed to cool down the outside world and produce hot water as a byproduct. It would be good if one was designed that could be flipped around and cool inside the house if needed.

The flat that I live in now and the one I am moving to only have windows on one side. You can't open a window on one side of the flat and another on the other to let a cooling breeze through. Called cross ventilation, in my opinion every new flat or house should have it. They are badly designed if they don't include it.

Also, in my present flat, there are no windows in the kitchen or the bathroom. We are dependent on extractor fans. The landlord doesn't seem to be bothered about whether they work or not. So windows in kitchen and bathroom would allow hot humid air to exit better and cross ventilation.

You can buy stand alone units and simply adapt a window opening. Often using a section of styrofoam so not difficult.
There are some ceiling fans which are “flush mount”, so you don’t need extra height.
Choosing the right window treatment is very important.

Shutters are commonplace on the continent. My French partner has never got over the fact that British houses don't have them.
Incidentally OP air con is not commonplace in Europe as it is e.g. North America.

I believe one of the major issues with new-build homes, particularly those constructed over the last 20 years, is their design. They are specifically engineered to conserve heat, which is beneficial during winter. From my experience living in a house built in the 1960s, it was quite cold in winter, but these new homes maintain warmth so well that there's often no need to run the boiler as much. However, this efficient heat conservation becomes a problem in the summer when the homes can become uncomfortably hot. I think construction companies should develop plans for new houses that not only conserve heat in winter but also stay cool in summer, perhaps through improved cross ventilation or similar methods.

It all comes down to money. If they know they'll sell all the units without air con, why would they bother adding it?

Probably because very few people actually want aircon in the UK. It is hot for what 2 weeks a year.

If people really want aircon you can get a unit installed for around £1,000. Hardly breaking the bank if you have just bought a new house.

I'm in a terrible new build - supposedly eco-friendly, so no air-con, but it's badly designed - corner flat with huge glass windows on both sides, no cross ventilation. (I had little choice in moving here as it was a sudden unexpected move and couldn't get anywhere else). I am so hot from about May to September (like indoor temp reading 29 or more, not every day but often - takes ages to cool at the end of summer). I do have a portable unit, but it really doesn't do enough, and also uses a lot of electricity. And can't be used at night as I'm on the ground floor. Properly installed central air con would probably be more eco-friendly. I have a parasol to try to shade the windows from outside in one direction, but can't put anything outside on the others, so just have indoor blinds on that side, which are absolutely not enough.

I don't even know if I'd get permission to retrofit it, as it would need drilling through the walls. And I don't know if a wall unit would fit anywhere anyway - they are still too big for a tiny flat. We have an air ventilation system, so you'd have though that could be adapted somehow to active cooling, but apparently not, even though there is already ductwork there for that.

I wonder about a ceiling fan in the bedroom, but I like the light fixture in there, and it would be a shame to have to replace it, but it might be an option if I could get permission. I wonder if there are fans that can do above/alongside an existing pendant light? hmm

(It's not that it's super warm in the winter, either, with all the glass! It's OK but the glass actually seems to make it quite chilly in the winter especially if it's windy. You'd think that would at least make up a little for the excess heat in the summer, but no).

Because we don't have hot weather often enough and they are horrendously energy inefficient anyway.

New builds should be passive not active cooled- that just makes the problem worse !

I wish more newbuilds were built with solar panels, its quite expensive to install if you need to pay for scaffolding, electricity cables to be routed through the house to the fuse box, etc. Should be really simple to do when the house is just a shell. The panels themselves are quite cheap.

Then when its hot and sunny you can use that solar electricity to run your aircon.

It's not beyond the wit of engineers to make a house that copes with heat and cold either

Solar panels the norm on Scottish new builds it seems

Probably legislation

Down south red tape is evil

I lived in a new build that had air con, it was a dream, don’t know why it’s not more of a thing as new builds get stuffy even in spring/ autumn. I wonder if people will start getting A/C installed in their homes, I’d prefer that than investing in a brand new kitchen etc.

I live in a 3 year old new build in the South East, so pretty hot here at the moment.

I don't feel the need for air con.

I have blackout blinds at the windows upstairs and a blind that I can lower when the sun is on the large windows/door in the living room at the back of the house - sun doesn't hit the front.

I also have a standing fan that helps keep the living room cool.

If I needed air con I'd have it installed but don't plan to.

More importantly for me, the house is very well insulated and I have a really efficient heating system in the winter.

They just built some "affordable' homes near me - some Social rent and some shared ownership. They all have solar panels. The ones with the best aspect also have storage batteries. There is no gas in the area so electricity was the fuel of choice.