Aircon: government should fund / subsidise it?

[catspyjamas1]

For context: I'm from Africa. Half my life has been spent in the UK and growing up in Africa, we didn't have AC unless we were in the shops. We had ceiling fans, onshore breeze from the sea, rarely a pool etc.

In the last 7-10 years, it's clear that the UK is not designed for the heat we have now in summer. This will not stop and is here to stay.

I've read several threads in the last couple of years of people in new build high rise flats who are struggling - one this week.
Ditto new build houses. I'm in a new build and upstairs where I sleep is horrific. I'm going to drag a mattress to the living room to sleep.
UK house builds are designed to retain heat - great for winter!! But not for summer.

Will add that I'm now in early menopause (formally!) so perhaps my experience of heat and sleeping is skewed

So:
AIBU: people need to suck it up and buy some fans.
YANBU: government should start a fund to subsidise and/or incentivise aircon in new and old houses (similar to what they did a few years ago for heating)

NB: please don't send me heat reduction tips, am on it and like I said, originate from Africa where 40+degrees C is normal.

Fund your own air con? Our fitted air con was only about £3k.

And are you willing to pay a huge increase in taxes to fund this?

I'd rather the government tackle climate change more seriously!

Yeah, cos the Government is swimming in cash…
that is why this country is doing so well!
oh..wait..

1% of emissions. What can we do? I don't know.

Yes!
this is where any action/ money needs to go

The uk government are flat broke ffs!

I think all new builds should be designed with the future climate in mind.
I went with a friend to look at some new build flats back at Easter - it was warm at the time but not summer heat, and the rooms were stifling. There were floor to ceiling windows often on 2 sides. A couple of blocks had some kind of system where air is recycled and gets slightly cooled in the process, whereas a couple had nothing....
Surely it would be a good idea to say building regs need to plan for both heat and cold?
Likewise I think new housing could have solar panels integrated.

Neither of your options - people should pay for air con in their homes if they wish, the same as they pay for all home improvements.

I do think there needs to be more thought my government / developers on high rises though - often predominantly made of glass . Developers should add in air con if needed (and pass on cost to buyers) and government shouldn’t object.

Sorry how would the government pay for that when they’re flat broke and not breaking even with their tax take already?!

For the two week of 25 degrees plus weather we get a year? No...

yes Of course let’s get the govt to pay for something else people should have to fund themselves.

madness.

I live in a new build and I don't want air con. I don't want units everywhere (3 storey House) a ndI don't want to pay the fuel bill for it. We have a Meaco fan (works like a Dyson) in each bedroom and it's completely fine at night.

I think the government will start to incentivise house owners to install air source heat pumps which can cool as well as heat.

I think every new build house should be required to have solar power and an air source heat pump.

Flats are another thing. Perhaps the government could help by providing a VAT break on air con systems for residential use for a few years! Flats are so hard to cool. I used to work in an office build that had installed shades to keep windows out of the sun’s glare. It was a brilliant idea and I wish more residential buildings had something like this.

Yeah. For schools and hospitals. Like they do other essentials and nice to haves like heating. But in a private home if the heating is broken, you fix it. We wanted AC, so we bought it. That's the way it works, I don't think anyone else needs to contribute.

That said, there is an important conversation to have over construction standards of new buildings, and general planning for the climate change we are going to continue to experience. Solar panels, proper insulation, and efficient AC on all new builds would be nice to see.

Buildings could be designed to reduce heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer. For example my house is barn conversion and there’s a window or a door in every one of the original openings. It’s like living in a conservatory, looks over function

Great idea if you're happy to pay an extra £3K in tax every year.

(Why can't you sleep on the sofa instead of dragging a mattress about?)

I'm willing for the government to reduce spending to fund it.

The goal of government subsidising updating heating systems was to increase energy efficiency and slow down climate change.
Air con will speed up climate change. Although I suppose if it were run via solar it wouldn't...

Reduce what spending?
Be more specific!

I am. Mine is being installed in three weeks.
The thread from a couple of days ago was a HA tenant struggling and couldn't install AC.

The point being that all new builds should now include AC as standard.

The fantasy that Britain is a honeypot , just ask for what you want and the government will give it to you. Somebody please make it stop. You are destroying us.

Quite

You mean taxpayers are flat broke and the government spending said tax payers money is inefficient.

HTH.

Erm no, because we’d all end up paying far more in taxes to cover that then it would probably cost us to just sort our own AC.

Not every problem requires a government bail out solution.