Air Conditioners

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Moving into a rental from the US and starting to wonder about Air Con. We are so used to it in NJ I'm not sure we will be able to handle without lol. Any suggestions on types, costs, and where to buy? Thanks everyone!

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MNHQ

Unless you are in London you really don't need aircon in the UK.

I don't know anyone who has an aircon unit in their house.

We could have used it today - until the heavens opened mid afternoon. However, it is rarely hot or humid enough to merit getting aircon.

We had 17 degrees here today. Aircon not needed.

you'll get a shock with UK electricity bills...and we also have a different climate.

you really don't need it here unless you are in a crap office building or super-stuffy really central London, for a couple of weeks a year. And even there opening windows and possibly a fan will be all that is needed occasionally.

that said..I think the new super expensive blocks in London (Shard etc) are all badly designed and you may need it there. Architects now can't cope with the idea of opening windows and non-energy-guzzling design. But if it is one of those places, it probably has aircon anyway.

We have a small fan that we put in the bedroom if it gets really muggy, that and a window open is enough. I haven't even dug it out of the garage this year.
Definitely not hot enough in UK for A/C (usually)
My A/C went on in April and off in October in California, and my bills were high, about £100 a month. highest ever was in 2006 heatwave and cost £600. Uk electric bills are much less for us.

Sorry that should be $600 not £. but the £100 a month was about right.

I've installed air conditioning from Daikin (Japanese brand) in two central london flats. I'm one case, I actually wanted it for heat since the flat only had electric storage radiators. But in the other, it was a very recent new build and the inside temperature was about 10deg hotter than outside. So we never used heat, but used the A/C a lot.

First problem is you need outside space to situate a compressor. So do you have a balcony etc? Second, it's quite expensive (compared to Japan or Oz) at about £2k per room. Third, it's not what you're used to from the US because UK houses don't have ducted forced air heating. So there is this giant thing on the wall.

All said, I love my air con. Helped my wife with allergies too. I used Crystal Sigma both times. www.crystalsigma.com

Must have cost you a fortune , would have been much cheaper to use the storage heaters correctly.

Other point is that any poor sod who actually wants the windows open will have to suffer the noise of the air con.

And my point about terrible building design is proved...

In England you can open the windows. You will not need bug screens. The weather is not what you are used to. It is midsummer here and the temperature is 17C. You will soon toughen up and learn to grumble.

Here is a snowy day in London
video.metro.co.uk/video/met/2016/04/26/5725015780357616037/960x540_5725015780357616037.mp4

Get a link to a UK weather webpage and watch it for a while. It is said that there are only about ten days a year when it is too hot, or cold, or stormy for an person to work outdoors, with judicious choice of clothing.

People will laugh at you if they find out you have aircon.

Dons tin hat, ready to be laughed at. We have one of the Daikin units in our kitchen ceiling that is also a fan, dehumidifier (never used), heater and AC. But we have huge south facing windows and DH was briefly in the AC business. We use it mostly to heat the kitchen before the heating comes on and after it has gone off, because it is cheaper than the central heating to run.

The condenser is large though and the unit in our roof space is also big, but not a problem because we also have a cellar for storage so there's only insulation in the roof.

You could always install some ceiling fans in bedrooms and living area. Bit cooler, less noise and expense on the electric bill. That's what we did.

less noise and less expense - just to be clear. Sorry.

I have a very hot bedroom, it is unbearable in the summer and even worse in humidity.
I have a B&Q portable aircon unit, and wouldn't be without it.
Also have an old unit for the back room. We really need them in the summer. Downstairs is cool but the top 2 floors are horrendous in summer.

I bought an air con unit last summer. The upstairs of my house was unbearable. It was 29 degrees for months. Well, until I got the air con unit! I love it. My kids love it. We can all sleep well now! No need for it downstairs as it generally keeps to 23-24 at worst.
£300 for cool, crisp air when I need it. Wonderful!
Just buy a unit if you find you need one.