Air con

[Kindnesskindnesskindness]

We are having air con put in the loft extension. DH wants to put it in our bedroom too.
I’m not keen.

I’d much rather close the windows and blinds during the day when the sun is hot and then open them just as I go to bed.
Ans it’s not as if we get months and months of really hot weather in the UK is it?

Have you got air con?
Do you use it much? Is it worth it?

I do have aircon.
Two of my bedrooms use it for heat.
It was here when I moved in, but I wouldn’t necessarily bother again if I am honest. It heats a room up quite quickly (and cools it down quickly) but I find it noisy and the heat is stifling quite fast, it’s a dry heat, and it’s too hot quite quickly.

That said, the aircon is lovely in summer, but I couldn’t afford to put it on last summer.

Personally it would be a nice to have, but not something I’d ever feel the need to have in a house again

Yes, it's the best thing ever. Definitely do it!

It’s early May right now and rather hot already where we are. I think we do get quite a lot of hot weather in uk these days and it will only increase

Currently laid in bed with AC on. It goes on nearly every night from late February through to October in this house. Wouldn't be without it

We have it in the bedrooms and it’s fantastic. Perfectly cooled bedrooms, no bugs/moths/daddy long legs flying in and no clattering blinds or billowing curtains to disturb my sleep. 100% recommend it.

Love the aircon! South facing bedroom and nothing could keep the temperature in there bearable. Best money spent (along with the water softener) as I can sleep without waking up dripping in sweat.

I want it and I’m likely going to get it this summer - will be one of the cheap(er) portable ones from B&Q or similar. I hate being hot when trying to sleep and it’ll be well worth a few quid a night for a decent sleep. Had one at my ex’s and we loved it - nice and chill all night! If I could be bothered with the expense and upheaval of a proper plumbed in one then I’d do it in a heart beat.

We took ours out. The machine we inherited was dusty and I couldn't help but wonder if I should be breathing in aircon for hours at a time, it felt unhygienic.

Having said that, we've since had a loft conversion and it gets awfully hot in the spring/summer and I don't like to open the windows due to the bugs, so we use a fan for the warmer months.

Absolutely do it. I have a whole house system that provides heat, air con and humidity control. It's amazing.

How much does it cost in energy?

Our bedroom is in full sun from lunchtime until sunset. We had a unit put in last year after talking about it for years. Best money we ever spent. It also heats so on really cold nights we can heat just the one rooming about 10 minutes

Could not be without it. We use it almost always in hot or humid weather.

Depends where you are really. Here in SE I absolutely would. We have a portable one in our loft extension and are considering properly installing, it is unbearable in the summer. It's pretty hot already.

We have it in all upstairs rooms. It is the best money we ever spent.

Quiet, energy efficient, and on nights it's still 30 outside you can have the bedroom at 20. Also works as a heater in the winter.

I have pondered this for my south facing bedroom which leads on to a conservatory (bungalow) so you can imagine how hot this gets.
Can I ask what sort of cost would it be to install and how much disruption? I have to spend most of my life on my bed and couldn’t cope with too much work being done.

We have it in our bedroom, had it installed last year. It was on last night for the first time and we slept like logs.

We have portable air con units in the young adults rooms, which are great but not as good as a fixed unit (louder). Practical reasons meant our room was easy to install fixed but the other rooms were difficult.

Do it!!

We paid about £2k for our bedroom last year, it was done in a day.

We were also quoted for bedroom and living room together and that was £4.6k, more expensive due to needing a larger outside unit and more wiring. We didn’t do it as we didn’t have a good outside wall so it would have had to have trunking inside which would look odd.

Yeah, I would. My OH finds it impossible to sleep if it's even slightly warm; I remember a portable aircon unit saved his sanity six summers ago when he lived in Berlin and it was absolutely scorching for six weeks (he was in a fourth floor flat).

He's a pita when he's tired and does everything wrong and forgets all the things. So I would absolutely pay to have him more 'with' it cos it makes my life easier.

Thank you all for the replies; much appreciated.

@Reallyitsonlyme thank you. Too much hassle and cash for me though.

I brought a portable unit a few years ago it’s amazing makes me able to sleep on those hot days. I turn it on before bed to cool the room down and then have a timer set. It also has a dehumidifier built in they all do and it’s been amazing when drying my laundry this winter. I paid around 5-600 pounds and it’s saved me especially living in a flat.

Asking seriously as my flat is generally 6 degrees plus hotter than the outside, gets unbearably warm. I have no idea about the cost of running so interested to hear from people who have it.

We have ducted aircon throughout the house. It’s great. The south facing rooms get really hot and I love being able to put it on fan in the spring, and a/c in the summer. It also does heating but we rarely use it, only my ILs use it when they visit as they live in a v hot country and anything below 28C is freezing cold for them.

It is all controlled from an app so I can see what rooms it’s on and start it remotely to cool the bedroom before bedtime. We also have a remote control in every room.

I can’t comment on energy cost as our “smart” meter is actually really dumb (ie not working and British Gas refusing to do something about it) but we are having PV panels put in next month so that should offset it.

It works really quickly so we rarely have it on for hours at a time, I usually cool the room for an hour or so, then switch to fan, except in the height of summer.

The costs in the UK for air con are outrageous. I live in the Algarve, and I pay €500 for per unit installed. They are cheap to run, and will warm and heat a room efficiently. They also have a dehumidifier setting. I have them serviced every year at around €20 per unit. I just don't understand how they are £2000 per unit installed in the UK.

I've had insect screens installed. Windows open, no chance of being bitten, bedroom perfect temperature and no electricity bill. Appeal Shading did ours.