We NEED air-conditioning

[JustBeenSleeping]

I'm wide awake and have partially stripped off. All the windows are open but there is no air.

I said to DH that we need AC! I don't care that we only get heat for about three days a year. This perimenopausal woman can't cope! Right now I'd be willing to remortgage our house to pay for it 😂

https://www.petsathome.com/product/rosewood-chillax-dog-cool-pad-blue-large/7120230P?productId=7120230&purchaseType=one-time&size=large

Game changer. Put them at the bottom of your bed so only your feet are on them. If your feet are cool then it reduces your body temperature a lot. I even slept through last years horrendous heatwave. Helps reduce swollen ankles too.

EDIT - I don't even need the fans (ceiling and tower) anymore.

I had a new build 3 storey townhouse and during the 2018 heatwave (last time I lived there) it was continually 30C or more in the bedroom, despite everything I tried. I barely slept (or functioned) for weeks.

I now live in a country where presently the overnight temp is low 30s and humid, and daytime low 40s. We have AC but limit its use due to the cost. My duvet is 1.5 tog and I'm still kicking that off regularly. We don't have any heating so I figure my six months of necessary AC are about the same as my previous six months of heating.

I suspect those saying AC is bad for the environment use the AC in their car, if they have one.

Me too. I get really unwell in heat. I can’t regulate my temperature well. And as I say, ours is the equivalent of a tv unit in energy so not sure how it’s so bad.

I do holiday, but not abroad for over 20 years, so no planes. I do have an SUV (Ford Kuga) because I need something big enough for my mobility scooter and also I struggle getting into anything lower.

We have floor standing fans, prefer the cheap ones as they are quiet.

Awnings video by Technology Connections - worth watching as it talks about an option that uses no electricity!

Was it John Stalker who used to advertise awnings on TV?

The south side of our house needs the curtains and blinds keeping shut to help keep it cool.

Can I ask what make your silent fans are ?

they are actually not that expensive to install if your bedroom is normal sized. you can just put one in your bedroom.
when I moved house last year, this was on the top of my list in terms of renovation. really glad I did it even though I have hardly used it this year. it is also good at heating up the room really fast if needed.

Unless you have an underlying health problem or live in a flat under the eaves of a badly designed building, you don't need aircon in the UK (or really anywhere except the places few humans are really meant to live...)

Keep the blinds and windows closed during the day and open the windows at night (opening windows only when outside is cooler than inside).

When the windows are open put a terracotta bowl of cold water on the windowsill if you don't have cats/ small children/ anyone/ thing else that'll overturn it.

Sleep downstairs if upstairs is hotter.

I went through perimenopause in a country with humid summers between 28-34°c and these measures were enough even though I was very overweight at the start of perimenopause (losing weight also helped but isn't easy or a quick fix and not everyone needs to obviously!).

Agreed. They're excellent security as well.

But so many councils won't even begin to consider planning permission for them.

People who suggest opening the windows once it's cooler outside obviously don't live in the middle of London! If we have a heatwave here it just gets hotter and hotter. There might be a small dip somewhere around 1 or 2 am but I'm fast asleep by then.

I do keep curtains shut in the day when it's that hot but unless I'm going to get up in the middle of the night, I can't circulate any air.

Have you tried removing your duvet from the duvet cover and just sleeping under the duvet cover (or even a sheet)? You could fold a thin cotton blanket at the base of the bed, and pull it up if you get chilly later. I share a bed with my limpet ten-year-old which sometimes feels as though I have a giant hot water bottle in bed with me, but this works well.

Also, try filling a hot water bottle with cold tap water and place at the bottom of your bed to cool your feet.

We have had many heatwaves since 2020 alone.
In my area we have had only one week of snow in December 2022.

IME any other country who wants air conditioning Yes of course you can
Brits ask for it No you cant it will make climate change worse.
And certain organisations need to start using their common sense. Doing gas safety checks when its 30c so the bloody heating has to be switched on. When flats like mine are like a fucking sauna. Ours is due on Monday. Thank fuck we are capped. Our choice

How does that work? My AC doesn't emit any (noticeable) heat from the outside system.

And yet, in Norway, almost everyone has a heat exchanger as they use relatively little energy compared to other heating methods. Cool air in summer, warm in winter.

Had AC fitted in bedrooms last year. Its absolutely the best purchase we've ever made. We use it so often, not just super hot days. It also heats and the heat is immediate so don't have to wait for the boiler to warm up the whole house when I can just warm one room

Im in a flat at the top of a block.

We need to start building homes for the climate we have now not the climate we had in 1965

@JenniferBooth Are you the OP with a name change because that’s who I was addressing?

However, I did offer a variety of remedies so some may be applicable to you but others won’t be.

Living on the top floor doesn’t make you spesh. As it happens, I have in the past lived in the top floor of a block and moved my mattress to the balcony door on hot nights. Neighbours squashed their mattress onto their tiny, Juliet type balcony.

I didnt say it made me special No im not the OP

But balcony Balcony BALCONY OMG i cant stop laughing. There is only one entrance AND exit to this shithole and that leads out to the communal hallway which is concrete and a lot cooler and YES i have seriously considered sleeping out there. The stairs then lead out to the main door which yet again is the only entrance and exit. Do you really need to be told about cavity wall insulation and how that has turned some homes into sweatboxes. My housing association has put loads of it into our walls. They get funding for it. ££££ Contractors get ££££ We have black cladding BLACK cladding Soaks up the heat.

An American take ...

I've set our smart curtains to not open on the SE side in the morning. When we bought the place, the front had a "storm porch" which always looked a little bit odd. It was when a friend from the US popped by it made sense. It completely shades the front of the bungalow and does keep temperatures down.

Weirdly it was far more pleasant in Nairobi - all year round !

We bought a portable unit this year. It's a meaco one and it's brilliant. We have a newborn baby and I'm breastfeeding. Where most adults can just put up with the heat it's a little more stressful when you have a baby or family member who cannot regulate their own temperature properly. Heatwaves kill.

I was also going to suggest the damp towel, or pjs. Put them on straight out of the spin cycle. The water evaporates and you cool down. A cold hot water bottle is good too. Put cold tap water and ice cubes in.

have a portable unit but try not to use it too much. I bought a sheet of plexiglass online measured exactly to the dimensions of the window, with a hole cut by the company that was exactly the size of the hose. In mine, it fits into the window frame screen gap, but you could also get turn-clips to hold it on to the frame. That blocks the hot air from re-entering.
^
^
What a great idea

I was going to say this!

Try smaller measures before concluding that AC is absolutely necessary.

• Heat in home is caused by the sun shining through windows during the day. Keep blinds shut during the whole day, as this helps a lot with keeping the house cool. Consider covering the windows from the outside if possible.
• While the blinds are closed during the day, keep the windows open also. Make sure the windows are left open for at least an hour or 2 before going to bed.
• Remove as much clothing as is comfortable when in bed.
• If possible, sleep in a bed separate from DH (if this isn't already the case).