Air con, de- humidifier or ?

[Arewethereyetarewe]

Hi

I live in a house with a south facing lounge which has sun all day long (double aspect to the west). Just to add to heat the room has a flat roof.

If you have purchased something to help with the recent heatwave and humidity (that worked) please share 😊

We bought a Swan Nordic fan with an air cooling function. It was recommended by Which and the Guardian. You fill a small reservoir with water and can put ice blocks in there, then the fan blows the slightly cooler air over to you. It cost £69 about a month age and it has been very handy.

Thanks. Is it good overnight?

I haven’t tried it in the bedroom. It does make a bit of noise and is described as making gurgling sounds, though I haven’t noticed those so much, myself. I do tend to wake in the night anyway, and it has been lovely having it on in the living room when I have got up in the early hours, feeling too hot.

First, thick curtains AND blinds AND temp shading of windows, makes an amazing difference and cheaper and nicer. I haven't tried an outside awning yet but there are some interesting ones available.

I've tried just about every gimmick out there, i too get full sun all day through my massive front window, fans just blow the hot air around, dehumidifiers generate heat as they pull the moisture out of the air, so i bought a Meaco Portable Air Conditioner and it's brilliant, it's a bit annoying that you have to have the pipe out of the window, but during the day that's not an issue. It's quiet at night and has a sleep timer, it's also a dehumidifier so you can dry your washing with it.

If i could afford it i'd just have a proper air conditioning unit fitted that does heating in the winter and cooling in the summer but that would be closer to £1000, think i paid about £500 for the portable one: www.meaco.com/products/meaco-cirro-14000-btu-super-quiet-inverter-smart-portable-air-conditioner

If you want to be really cool, you need proper air con unit. the ones you fill with water or ice just push moisture into the air so initially it feels ok but they push up the humidity even higher. they work well in places with very dry heat but the uk has damp heat. prices for air con units have gone bonkers so wait a while and prices will come down again.

Heard good things about Meaco Air Con units but they are all out of stock and have been for over a week. Im looking for a good portable air con unit if anyone knows where I can get one at the moment?

I'd give Meaco a call to see if you can find out when they are coming back into stock and see if they will let you pre-order one, it seems everywhere has sold out of Portable Air Conditioners online, i can't see one in stock at any major retailer.

Or Debenhams have this: www.debenhams.com/product/nordara-4-in-1-air-conditioning_p-be43197c-ad64-4b48-ac0f-8e1b52f7cacb?colour=White&size=One+Size&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=4&gad_campaignid=22709836258&gclid=CjwKCAjw0o3SBhBVEiwAh28-jbdaIX1p0yUjEC_H30_CWooAzM28nIPj2_-i0P2w1AJpBfUXmgnSWRoCekoQAvD_BwE

The rear of our house faces south, so can get quite hot. We have a motorised awning that does an amazing job of cooling things off when the sun is out.

Thanks x I emailed Meaco and they said I just have to keep checking their website not accepting pre orders, will check out the Debenhams one, cheers

Thanks for your replies

It is interesting to read what has helped!

We are south facing with a 2 huge sets of patio doors and windows. Curtains and blinds already but not enough due to double aspect in one room which also has a flat roof 😳

I have considered an awning ExpatForLife which do you have?

Also considering a large pergola to remove heat from whole wall and provide shade on terrace which at times is too hot to walk on.

I'm about to have anchors put on the walls of my south facing house so I can hang a large shade sail and tie it off on our decking. It'll create a lot of shade over the back and ground floor.

Great idea

Do you have an example of the sail?

https://amzn.eu/d/0fim4Uxz

It's about the width of the doors and back window, so will cover most of the width of the house and reach out enough for me to attach the bottom to the decking uprights.

I'll be able to put it on and off quickly, so if the wind gets up I can whip it off again.

Thank you 😊

I cannot stand the heat! Well…. The humidity. We bought a modest Meaco unit 3 years ago and it’s been a godsend. Very ugly and heavy but idgaf what it looks like. It’s enabled me to survive in this stupid heat. Just in the kitchen diner though. Fans upstairs.
Looking at proper air con (installed not portable) for our 4 bed is £7.5k ish

Thanks everyone

It came with the house so not sure? It has a remote control for raising/lowering and (this is key) automatically retracts if it gets too windy.

Some kind of external cover on your windows to limit the solar gain. I used these in the heatwave just gone in Paris (4 days of 39/40c and not getting below 25 at night) and it made things manageable. You need to attach it on the outside of the frame, silver side facing out. It's not the most attractive, but it does the job in the short term! Even if you end up going with aircon, some kind of shading or shutters will stop the room heating up so much to start with and reduce how hard the aircon has to work to keep things at a reasonable temperature.

www.amazon.co.uk/Blackout-Curtains-Portable-Temporary-Material/dp/B0F87XB2GX/ref=sr_1_23?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ViCciCySPpYD5TSCaXIWcH-N1AmDHApv0If9rJxnjUBozluA1LUUGBbnLm0KO6i3F5l2QuzaOpiKsS4OBLS-XWU_jSrLTxVDprcBV9YTCVq9IPlW62s9jMkvuh8o9Nt9QO1YL7iXdCe6DypFZSse4iAU1qO6F2dksYtOgeQfFt9LUnzyJLxK1PG_Lw7zndveuOuA8-Ru-QKtjOL80Jubsnk35Nnl41PHRoUjXoElkOE4_TLbZ7_-3UUoqLrfdn6HO_5CCbsYUDQaz-ik9EqulErOm35oj31CJyOFSk2zat0.o2wX2rP_yjbl9dZ7l5YqElAguSNwT5zhHhT2ITVMNNQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=blackout%2Bcurtains&qid=1782939887&sr=8-23&th=1