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.

We’ve been looking at properties in London in the past 2 yrs and all new builds have cooling systems (similar to air con).
eta: by new builds I mean completed building in the past year or two

This country really is awful in the heat. American friends (understandably) laugh at me when I complain about 80 degrees – after all, it hit 100 in Chicago. But what they don't realise is that our houses (especially the disgusting new builds) are tiny. Houses in Texas and Australia are generally bigger and airier. The heat has room to circulate. And not only are the houses small, they're also jammed on top of one another. I'm never more conscious of what a hellishly overcrowded place the UK is than during a heatwave.

@PeloMom What do you mean by 'they have some cooling system but not air conditioning'? Could you explain how it works? Also, best of luck with the house hunting. It's great to hear that you can afford to buy a house in London.

I wouldn't want more costs. I use blinds and fans occasionally.

Also I'm at work 5 days out of 7.

Ds has a ceiling fan/light in his room.6 speeds and remote control.Only 50 quid off Amazon

They have what’s called air cooling. A quote how it differed from AC: ‘An air conditioner repeatedly circulates the existing air into the room for cooling, whereas an air cooler draws fresh air from the outside and then cools it down. Furthermore, unlike an air conditioner, an air cooler does not dry out the air in the room.’
from friends who have air cooling the feedback is that it doesn’t get as cold as with ac but it’s still pleasant.

@TeaTimeMum Agree. My sister is in a new build which has what you describe - the air vent system pumps out heating or cooling. It's very efficient.

The only thing I will say is that when it's on the blink, it's on the blink for everybody. It seems to operate out of a central plant thing?

However, if it's on the blink in winter, it doesn't actually matter because newbuilds are built to be so ridiculously hot! How have they done that and why have they done it?

My previous place was built in 2003 and definitely needed the same. If it was warmer than 25 outside then it would be about 30 or 32 in the flat and the fridge and freezer frequently packed up because of it.

My summer bills were higher because of the portable air-conditioning unit. (I did a calculation one year and it worked out that the air-conditioning would be in use many days between May and November, so that's how I decided to buy it, I just bought the cheapest thing on the market).

Oh and the windows didn't open properly because I was on a high floor.

That drove me nuts. Obviously on a high floor there isn't the option to shade the windows from the outside.

I did get the option to buy a north facing flat here thank goodness! Heating bill is tiny.

ceiling fans just move hot air around.

Air-to-air source heat pumps / conditioner systems are perfectly suited to most new builds, and quite cheap as used prolifically in commercial venues, but they're not pushed as much as air to water because it's not very 'green' to pay to cool your home. I'd put one in though if I was building a house.

It can't be genuinely eco-friendly. I visited somewhere in west London where the walls very very thick and they said it had an all year round temperature of 17 degrees centigrade. No heating required.

I have air conditioning, cooling the whole house has cost about 10 units of electricity per day for the last couple of days. So £2 ish a day.

I don't think thats expensive given how comfortable it is, but of course depends on your means.

@MissBuzzard You're pretty much right. People often assume that using an AC is too expensive ( running cost), but modern units are actually quite energy-efficient. Considering the current prices of gas and electricity, using a boiler in the winter isn't cheap either. So, why all the fuss about ACs consuming too much energy? I doubt it’s as bad as people think, especially since it’s only for a maximum of two weeks.

I’ve lived in houses built in the 1960s and 1970s and they got sweltering when it was warm. Particularly upstairs.

I now live in a 17th century new build and it is lovely and cool inside. I’m still sleeping under a duvet.

If you have air source heat pump heating, these also cool in the warmer days. We had these in our shop for cooling in the summer, and they also pumped out warm air in winter, you just set the temp on the thermostat.

All the fuss is because it’s true.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130719103146.htm

Fitted ours last year. It is amazing 😍

I had a metal one years ago and was always afraid of it flying off in some sort of final destination decapitating.

I’m in the USA and we do have aircon. Our heating system is completely different to the the UK though - we have blown air through the floors, no radiators. Blown air gets heated in the winter and cooled in the summer. The major downsides are that we can’t really control the temperatures in individual rooms much apart from closing vents, and it can generate more dust. It’s also pretty drying on the skin.

It sounds like my recent build flat. Lots of triple-glazed glass which makes it feel like a greenhouse. It took all of two successive 22°C days to heat up to 29°C indoors despite me keeping all the blinds shut, tall fans on and opening up windows at night. It takes a long time to cool down. The prolonged heatwave we had in the south a few years ago was awful, I think the flat got up to 35°C. I felt so ill and now feel anxious if I see prolonged hot weather forecast.

I don’t think air con is environmentally justifiable in this country but I’d really welcome outside shutters like on the continent. Blocks like mine should be built with them as standard.

I wouldn’t want it and don’t see the need. We live southern Europe. It’s hot here in summer. I much prefer using the house for cooling. We have awnings that pull out to provide shade outside and stop sun coming in, wooden shutters upstairs we keep closed on bedrooms in summer, and auto slinging shutters downstairs we can lower 1/4-1/2 only to add extra cooling and shade when needed.

It’s 34 outside today, inside rooms hover around 22-26 degrees daytime depending on location to sun. Cooler at night.

Air con just drys the air and make any throat dry. I turn it off in hotels.

outside we have pergolas with vines growing over for shade, lots of trees, and the awnings. Extra sun umbrellas when needed

We had that in the 1970's over here. Not the cooling element though. Would need to be airtight.

That’s great if it’s a house and you have a garden but not much use in a flat, which is all many people of my generation can afford.

This would be better!

Air con is only going to contribute to local overheating. Outer blinds as are common in continental Europe would make loads more sense first of all.

Had the same. It wasn’t great, made worse by the cat habitually sitting on the vents.

@voiceofastar - why? All flats have the same shutters here also. Wooden on older buildings or roller shutters. Even flats.
That way you just close them up when you go out or to work, and come home to cool flat. Upper floor flats almost all built with balconies so everyone can have awnings also. Flats are very common here