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.

I've got low ceilings and ceiling fans, they're great!

I have a very weird house as it costs a lot to keep in warm in winter, but in the summer it retains heat like a bugger!

We have 9 air conditioning units in my office that provide both heat and air con. Last year our electric bill was £9,500, so £88 per month, per unit. I know I cook at home, but that's a darn sight cheaper than my combined gas and electric bill at home and they'd have been on longer in the office too!

@voiceofastar - no I know the uk usually builds flats and houses not like this. I’m just saying the solution is not air con in new builds, it’s build new builds better with low cost ways of sustainably keeping heat out.

Well we are a tiny island compared to a continent…

I’m a big fan of AC since moving to the US, and it’s much cheaper and more energy efficient than heating. My summer bills are not bad at all compared to the winter, and I live in a region that gets both much hotter and much colder than the UK.

Come and live in my 70s detached. Bloody freezing most of the year but lovely and cool in the few hot days we have. No air con needed.

New build flats are usually warm all year round though, so for me, May to November was very hot in an average summer. Men walk in and wonder if they're going through the change.

From what I read, even my previous place wasn't as bad as most new builds.

Av winter temp in previous new build, with no heating on, was 22.

Because aircon is terrible for the environment.

AC was one of my least favourite things about the US. In summer, buildings would be so cold you needed a jumper, while in winter it would be hot enough for just a t-shirt. And no one else seemed to think this was at all problematic.

I live in a South facing new build and I bought Meaco air con from John Lewis. The tube goes out a window and I bought a window kit to seal the window. It was on for about four hours today and I would not be without it when working from home.

I was thinking today gosh when I come to sell My flat I must not do it in summer as no one will buy it.

In the north east England it’s only hot for about two weeks maximum. Not worth the expensive.
As a country it’s going to rain more but slightly warmer. So probably a dehumidifier would be better.

I also have a black out blind in the bedroom, it's down 100% of the time now.

On the balcony I bought a large parasol in a half moon shape. It does nothing to shade the balcony, it more stops the sun from getting into the lounge.

I also have a turbo floor fan and a small desk fan. Think I've pretty much covered it over time!

Air source heat pumps can cool as well as heat as long as you get the right one, they don't all do it.

New Builds that fall under Part O 2021 (2022 in Wales) do have to consider overheating but Aircon is the last item to be allowed after passive measures (glazing, shading, extra mechanical ventilation such as continuously running fans that are low energy to remove hot air) have been considered. It's a big deal now in the building regs world.

Also, new builds under Part L 2021 (2022 in Wales) have to have renewables, either solar panels or air source heat pumps. There's a consultation out at the moment for the next regs change which would be a massive jump in carbon emissions reduction (and possibly bills, depending on the option settled on) but who knows what the next government will actually do.

I lived in a flat with central air rather than central heating, central air is very very expensive to run, in winter we would easily spend an additional £300 a month on electricity, in the summer using it to cool would cost a similar amount. Servicing was expensive, they’re not good systems for allergies the actual unit is very large too, much larger than a boiler or a hot water tank.

YANBU our 7 yr old house becomes a sauna in a heatwave. Even though it cooled down outside today upstairs rooms in our house were still 29 degrees! We want air con but it's so expensive! Portable air conditioners are too big for our small new build rooms with no storage...

That sounds a bit like my sister's place. But that's very economical. She refers to it as air cooling or air heating. Is that the same as central air?

My place is tiny. You can't have the unit plugged in without losing a chunk of space sadly. But it works well, is cheap to run. Noisy though.

Our was air conditioning rather than air cooling, I think the difference is new air v recycled air.

We have aircon. Bollocks to saying it’ll only be used for 2weeks a year. It gets used maybe for 2 months on and off. All the posts saying go and get a coffee and cake to sit in the shops aircon, i pay less than that for mine on all day at home. Medically needed and worth every penny.

We have an aircon unit for the summer and a dehumidifier for the winter. Although the aircon does dehumidifier as well

I have ceiling fans in the living rooms and bedrooms always have done and they are fab

I change them every few years to a different design / style but it’s relatively cheap and they are easy to fit

That Party Political statement apart, for the number of days we have 'hot' weather in the UK it isn't economical to install air con in houses, it's possible for a couple of hundred pounds to buy portable units. I don't even use the air con in my car, windows open for a reason.

Shutters and a ceiling fan work a treat. When my sister lived in Spain as a poor student she couldn't afford air con and just kept the roller shutters drawn from 6am until 6 pm and that worked a treat as she was out of the house then. Then open the shutters and windows when she got home. At the when's she just keep the shutters closed that needed to closed.

Air con is expensive to run. , typically 2-6kw an hour per room depending on size.

I’ve noticed from reading through the comments that people who have air conditioning are extremely happy with their decision. On the other hand, those without air conditioning often express a negative outlook based solely on perception, rather than experience.Honestly, I haven’t seen anyone in this post who has air conditioning say they regret it. Looks like a bit of a ‘sour grapes’ situation to me