AIBU to buy air conditioning on credit during this heatwave?

[Pansypots]

I'm currently housebound and taking medication that makes it much harder to cope with the heat.

I'm doing all the right things - windows and curtains closed when the sun in on them, reflective foil on the glass, multiple powerful fans, including a misting one but I'm still finding the heat unbearable. My flat is south facing and has large windows which makes it into an oven in the summer.

It's currently 28c in the flat with the curtains closed and the back windows open because they're catching a cool breeze.

I have asked my landlord about fitting shutters or ceiling fans and been refused.

I'm genuinely considering buying a AC unit but would have to pay for it on my credit card. I can afford the repayments but absolutely hate using it unless it's an emergency. Wibu?

Think about where you’re venting it to. DS trashed the windows with his.
First of all he set it up to vent into the rest of the house, which thrilled me as you can imagine 🙄. Left Velcro all around the door frame.
Then he made a card shutter for the window, using Velcro to attach it. The weight and stretch of the pipe was pulling the card off so he added ever more Velcro.
Now he’s moved rooms and was all set to Velcro it to another window. He’s got an acrylic sheet this time, and I’ve told him to try suitable, non marking, tape instead.

Make sure you cost in the acrylic sheet, and that the pipe is long enough for your purpose.

Do it. I invested last year, more for my aging pets who were struggling in the heat, but it's brilliant. I don't have to worry if I'm at work on the now annual 40*C days. I seal the windows with tape and a cut up plastic table cloth. I have some very awkward tilt and turns though that won't facilitate anything else.

Options to help if you don't have air con - I lived in Brisbane Australia for 30 years without air con, so know about heat and humidity! My house now is the only place I've had with ceiling fans, which are amazing up to around 32 degrees and all I use at night through summer.

This works for both pets and people. Wet down a couple of tea towels and put in the freezer. Once stiff wrap around your neck (or pet's neck) like a bandana. That cools the blood travelling to your brain and really helps. You can buy cooling bandanas, but tea towel works fine. Once it heats up, re-wet and swap for a cold one. My persian cat used to get one draped over her. When it got too warm, she'd walk to the fridge a meow for an exchange.

If you have a bath, fill with cold water and jump in and out during the day, like a little pool. Sitting wet in front of the fan is a good way to cool.

Wet towel. Wet a towel, wring it out, then place over your body and sit in front of a fan. The evaporation cools you down.

All things you can do using what you have in the house.

With windows, I don't open them at all during the day as, even if there is a breeze, here it is humid and the air is much hotter than inside. My place is usually 10 degrees different to outside temps without turning the air on. I've got blockout curtains plus and external shade blind on my large, west facing glass sliding doors (2.4m).

https://news.sky.com/story/air-conditioning-will-become-unavoidable-in-parts-of-england-as-summer-heat-becomes-unbearable-13545863

Thank you all. I've ordered one. Between being in pain and the heat last night I think I slept for about two hours, even with my fans running. I feel absolutely awful today because of it.

I was in a financially abusive relationship for too long so spending money on myself is still really hard!

YABU. You can’t afford it and the heat has broken.

People should not have to suffer in the heat just because they rent. How very two tier. And we seem to be begrudged running water in this country in heatwaves let alone air con.

Did you get the screwfix one you linked in an earlier post?? I'm also predominantly housebound due to agoraphobia and take tablets that make coping in this heat worse. What model did you end up getting?? My budget is also only a couple of hundred and I've looked at so many over the last few weeks that I've completely overwhelmed myself!!

Best thing I've ever bought!

Yes I did. It's been brilliant so far - it is quite noisy but it's doing a wonderful job of cooling my entire flat down. The instructions also aren't the best!

Get a noise/vibration reducing mat from Amazon to put underneath it - that massively reduces the sound and once you've got the internal temperature down to something less unpleasant (assuming you have a half decent seal over the window for the exhaust hose), the compressor will kick in far less often, which reduces it more to white noise that you will be able to sleep through.

I don't regret mine at all - I got a more expensive one a few years back via Amazon, so paid it in interest free instalments (in case anybody else is thinking that they would have to spend the entire amount at once).

I live in a South facing new build.

I have black out blinds in the bedroom, always keep windows shut and blinds down, except to cool before bed. Cooling pads in bed before sleep.

Two turbo floor fans from Robert Dyas. And a couple of other ones. Basically anywhere I sit has a fan. I have a parasol on the balcony which shades the lounge. Also have a neck cooler from Amazon which is good, made of like running vest material. John Lewis and Amazon also have electric neck cooler fans - I just bought the JL one which is £15.

I did also buy an AC unit for my home office. It has a window kit as you have to seal the window. It does work in the one room. Obviously it only gets used for a month or so every year but its worth it. I think you'd want something like 12000 BTU. Wish I'd bought it a couple of years ago and to be honest I'd probably just get full A/C fitted throughout the flat if I was staying here long term.

Yeah - for now. It's only May. Plenty of summer left.

Good for you. I really hope it helps you

I wouldn't get into debt over something you're realistically going to use 2 weeks of the year A/C machines are not cheap and the cost of running them is huge. Have you tried using a desk fan with a shallow bowl of ice in front of it? This really helps!

What a lot of really useful posts! MNers rock. Ive learned so much from reading these and Im now NOT going to just suffer when - inevitably - another heatwave comes!

I have fans. I have a misting fan that's supposed to be really good at cooling but unfortunately they didn't help much.

It will be over soon! Summer only lasts 1-2 weeks and we are at the end

More of the gaslighting that i predicted last August.

I saw that you can get devices that have several functions like cooling / heating / dehumidifying so people who are unsure about investing in something just for summers could always go for something multifunctional.

They actually don’t cost that much to run. We have used ours on and off over the summer for the 8 years we’ve had it and I wouldn’t be without it now!

MN Air con is only needed a few days a year
Also MN Ooh you shouldnt get air con Bad for the environment
Shrodingers heatwave

It's just turned June. Yes it's cooled off a bit but realistically we have three months of summer left and if it's anything like last year I'd be totally and utterly miserable in the heat.

At least last year I could go out to get a break from it and was on different medication that didn't make the heating even more unbearable!

OP can’t afford it. It’s ridiculous to get yourself into debt for something that’ll be used for one month a year.

It's not ridiculous at all if you genuinely can't function for those weeks

My body actually stops working in extreme heat , to the point it becomes very unsafe