How much would the climate have to change for you to consider getting air-con for your house?

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rev-fr-john@reddit

I don't know, but I do know we're not there yet, so far the hottest the house has been is 23 degrees.

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fursty_ferret@reddit

I have a system which covers the bedroom (loft conversion). It works both ways and keeps it cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and barely sips at electricity.

Roughly 10p/night at the moment.

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running_on_fumes25@reddit

We have a portable unit, which is fine for one room at a time. I'd really love aircon but my wife forbids it

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Funky_monkey2026@reddit

It would have to be Cypriot weather. I had 4 24,000 btu units installed in the gym. Will have to be in the high 30s for months on end, not high 20s for a week.

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mrwhitescarwash@reddit

I love heat. Greek or Andalusian weather is where I'd probably consider it. Or I'll just put floor tiles everywhere, I feel like they really do keep a room cool.

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Better_Afternoon_503@reddit

When I was living at home we rented a place that had been kitted out by the owner with some American type features, one of which being AC in the bedrooms.

For 4 years I had the most amazing summers, I’d go to work and be pissing with sweat all day, then come home, grab a beer, watch the football and stick the AC on. It was that good I’d actually get cold and have to put a jumper on or turn it off.

When I moved out I’ve missed it ever since.

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LJM_1991@reddit

We have a portable one, costs about £200 and is a game changer for sleeping on a night. I don’t know why you wouldn’t tbh

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Firm-Avocado6254@reddit

If we start edging towards 4/5 months a year of heat, I’ll get air con.

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jonpenryn@reddit

i cant afford heating and i cant afford cooling either.

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V65Pilot@reddit

I bought a used portable a couple of years ago after living here for two years. I'll admit, it's a bit of a unicorn unit, portable bit with an external condenser. (Airforce RCS-S6000U) I haven't regretted it. I basically just have a window open year round, and built a panel that fits into the opening with a pass through, so I can use it as advertised. I'm never letting it go.

https://www.midlandcool.co.uk/main/Portable%20Air%20Conditioners%20-%20Small%20Office/RCS-6000U_Split_Portable_Air_Conditioner_-_4.69kW.htm

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Forsaken_Bee3717@reddit

It would have to be quite a bit hotter than this and for a lot of the year. It’s a lovely temperature the last couple of days.

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EUskeptik@reddit

We have a portable air conditioner we use in the bedroom.

It cost £250. Worth every penny. 👍

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BppnfvbanyOnxre@reddit

I waiting for my quote for an ASHP to be finalised. I might well see what the extra cost of AC i.e. Air2Air would be for the bedroom and living room.

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OpenBuddy2634@reddit

Already got air con, just can't afford the electric to run it.

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spingledoink@reddit

I already have it...

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legenddave1980@reddit

Already got one, portable unit for my home office, sat here right now freezing my nuts off and being all snooty and at the sweaty masses.

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TeaBoy24@reddit

How about people starting to actually insulate their houses first rather than jumping to the support units....

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Intruder313@reddit

Never because people buying AC is harmful to the environment

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Graz279@reddit

It's the split systems that can heat as well as cool (i.e. it's a heat pump) that have suddenly got me interested.

Cool bedrooms at night would be very nice but also my work from home office is our bedroom, it's cold in the winter, I don't want the central heating on for the entire house, so being able to just switch on blown heating for that room would be pretty cool (excuse the pun) 😄

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ImpressNice299@reddit

I can’t believe people don’t. The portable unit in my bedroom was £170 and is a life saver when it gets properly warm.

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morecbt@reddit

I have not because the heat only lasts a few days a year.

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ImpressNice299@reddit

Depends on the year. It’s only June and I’ve probably used it for 20 nights this year.

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KeysUK@reddit

Bought one when I saw the weather was going to hit 38+ a few years ago. Best purchase I've ever made, though It does eat through electricity like there's more tomorrow.

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LazyEmu5073@reddit

Can I join your smug gang?! I have one upstairs and one down!!

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ImpressNice299@reddit

To be really smug, you need built in AC.

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Lammtarra95@reddit

Technology and politics are key, not climate.

Heat pumps are all the rage. Government wants them everywhere to reduce our carbon footprint but now there are 2-way heat pumps that can cool as well as heat houses.

Once the government catches up and subsidises the new sort as well, some time between next week and 2039, installing air conditioning will be a no-brainer as basically it will be free when you renew your heating.

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notouttolunch@reddit

An air conditioner is a heat pump. Always has been.

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cryptonuggets1@reddit

You mean an air con unit is pumping the heat from inside outside?!? Madness. I thought it just made new atoms at absolute zero and ejected them into the universe causing ultimately dark matter to form elsewhere which leads to the universe expanding.

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notouttolunch@reddit

You’re not wrong about your mental quirks.

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Glittering_Copy8907@reddit

That's not what "heat pump" means.

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Glittering_Copy8907@reddit

These threads always get wodnerfully confusing, and the government don't help by only pushing source : water pumps

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notouttolunch@reddit

I’m an engineer. They just make me laugh usually.

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knightsbridge-@reddit

Hi, I work in this field.

The government is pushing heat pumps because they're a low carbon alternative to gas boilers for heating.

Reversible Air-To-Air Heat Pumps (RAAPHs) are what you're talking about - they don't use radiators, they use blowers mounted on the walls to blow hot (or cold) air, as an AC does (because that's what they are).

The reason why the government isn't subsidising RAAHPs is twofold;

Even considering the small electrical footprint of a RAAHP used for cooling, that's still spending energy on cooling a home when you wouldn't normally spend anything at all, so it can't be considered good for the environment for the government to pay for it.
And even more important than the above. Because RAAHPs don't use radiators and don't interact with the gas system in a house at all, there's no guarantee that paying for a home to get a RAAHP fitted would guarantee that the home would remove their gas boiler at the same time. Since removing gas boilers is the entire point of subsidising the switchover, they aren't going to pay for a solution that may not actually result in the boiler being removed.

And the reasons why you might not remove your boiler when installing a RAAHP system are numerous and varied.

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Glittering_Copy8907@reddit

You're ignoring the limited ability to use source : water pumps for cooling, I'm pretty sure that's what they were talking about.

As you say, you're just on about traditional air con which isn't generally what people actually mean when they heat pump because it's not what the government generally means. Though it is confusing

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the_man_inTheShack@reddit

So why is there a government sponsored trial of AC going on right now?

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knightsbridge-@reddit

I don't know which specific trial you're talking about.

I have been involved in some trials that have considered the value of replacing homes where the existing heating system is a "dry" one with no radiators - like storage heater homes - with RAAHPs.

That trial ended up using RAAHPs because:

A) air to air is more efficient than air to water, so there was a desire to use the former where there were no radiators or boilers to worry about B) it's actually kind of hard to find air to air systems that don't include cooling as well. It just became a manufacturing problem where it would've been disproportionately difficult to even source any air-to-air that didn't include cooling.

About 85% of UK homes use gas combi boilers, though, so the storage heater/dry heating home trials aren't too widely applicable.

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ShockingHair63@reddit (OP)

How would the two way heat pumps work practically? Cold radiators to absorb the heat? Or would additional infrastructure in the house be needed?

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Perite@reddit

I’m sure there’ll be nice solutions, but generally they work by blowing hot or cold air. Not the existing central heating system

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the_man_inTheShack@reddit

all modern air con systems are 2 way and are heat pumps, by flipping a few valves they change from pumping heat from outside to inside, to pumping heat from inside to outside.

They can either use a large central unit with ducting all over the house (good when building, pita to retrofit), or a single outside unit with individual connections to multiple units (typically 1 per room).

For dormer roofed houses and bungalows these (multi-split aircon) can often be an easy retrofit (which is what we did 2 years ago)

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Glittering_Copy8907@reddit

Assuming people are on about air/ground source: water pumps, of the kind being pushed by gov, essenitally a combination of what you say but there are also special units which blow air over cold pipes.

I forget what they're called. Never gonna be as good as traditional air con though for cooling

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rocketscientology@reddit

Coming from a country where two-way heat pumps are the absolute norm, it’s crazy to me that they never come up in the conversation in the UK, they’re so practical! I assume there’d be logistical issues with installing them in certain types of builds, but I’ve lived in pretty old houses back home that had them. My only guess is there’s more issues installing them in houses made of brick or stone - most places back home are made of wood which I guess might make it easier.

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ClacksInTheSky@reddit

I live in Yorkshire. If it starts getting to 30°C regularly I might take my coat off.

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the_man_inTheShack@reddit

Already there, for those few days a year it's wonderful, plus the space we got back ditching all the radiators is a win every day.

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allywillow@reddit

During the heatwave at the start of lockdown we got 2 portable a/c units for wfh. Only use them now in this sort of hot weather, we have solar panels too so the electricity is free. Lifesavers at night time when it’s so humid

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smileystarfish@reddit

I wish I had it done when we were getting the house rewired last year. We just don't have the money for it, otherwise I would get it installed.

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JavaRuby2000@reddit

Bought mine 5 years ago. It's been worth every penny. Anybody online saying the UK is too cold and you would only use it 2 days a year is a moron. Even last years total wash out summer the temperature was still up making it feel like monsoon.

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

I am considering getting more like a portable unit that can be put in whatever room is being lived in at the time. No need for anything that does the whole house. I am not going to panic buy it though, looking at £200 or so at least.

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Unlikely_Doughnut845@reddit

Does air conditioning not contribute to climate change?

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

Does central heating? Gets to the point where it becomes a bit of a necessity tbh.

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Glittering_Copy8907@reddit

Depends, they use energy but are quite efficient. Where that energy comes from is the question - if it's renewable then not really

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StarShipYear@reddit

Even if they could be run with zero impact to climate change, they still need to be manufactured, and that requires energy and damages the environment via multiple means.

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Glittering_Copy8907@reddit

Well, yes, in that case basically everything we do contributes in some way.

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StarShipYear@reddit

Oh well, might as well continue to complain about climate change and simultaneously keep adding to the problem.

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SaltyName8341@reddit

Depends on how you power it

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Jimmy90081@reddit

Already have costs… so, this much.

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Spadders87@reddit

i dont think i ever would really (maybe when its touching 40 fairly regularly). I dont like being out in hot weather and much prefer winter/spring temps but never have an issue inside. I dont even use a fan.

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UKPerson3823@reddit

I put solar panels and mini-split AC units in my Victorian terraced house a few years ago. It's fantastic. The energy cost is essentially nothing with the solar panels. Its typically hot and sunny at the same time. The council had a program that reduced the cost of solar to relatively little.

The AC magically is also a heat pump in the winter if you want to supplement heat in one room. Or if thr gas goes out, just switch to electric heat.

As someone who emigrated to the UK, the lack of AC in the home and the 1-day install process preventing you from having it is puzzling.

The mini-split units are FAR quieter, more effective, and more efficient than the portable AC units. If you find yourself with like 3 portable units rigged up with hoses running across rooms into windows and cardbaord plugging gaps in openings like a Saw movie and it sounds like a jet engine, just got AC installed. Its so much better - basically silent with much lower energy use.

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dragonetta123@reddit

I put ceiling fans in about 15 years ago and never looked back. I stay in a nice breeze in 30degreeC heat.

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Carinwe_Lysa@reddit

I wish I bought one years ago, but I'm definitely pulling the trigger once I move into my new flat this year.

My friend bought a very expensive dyson brand one years ago for an eye watering cost, but every year her place is so amazingly cool throughout the entire property because of it. The 2022 heatwave definitely proved it was a good purchase, as their place was really comfortable.

Meanwhile, I'm sat awake most of the night because every room is stifling and there's no airflow lol.

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D0wnb0at@reddit

Bought a portable one in January for about £400, I got a powerful one as my whole downstairs is open plan so has to cool the entire bottom floor. Figured I’d get it cheaper or there would be more availability than in summer. Not sure that was true.

It’s a god send though. I hate feeling uncomfortable in my own house.

2 issues: 1: it is that it’s noisy, and I specifically picked this one as it was the quietest out of the ones I was considering. I have to turn the TV up louder. But I’ll take that over sweating my bollox off working from home. 2: it’s damn heavy to picking it up to take it to my bedroom is a huge hassle. Only done it once so far as I left the windows open all day in my bedroom with the blinds open and my bedroom has sun on it all day. Rookie mistake. But that one night I blasted my bedroom for 2 hours before bed and it was lovely. I’m considering buying another (smaller) one for upstairs.

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EdmundTheInsulter@reddit

46C

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PatserGrey@reddit

Already been looking into it. 4 split systems are cheaper than I would have guessed, mmmm

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GaryJM@reddit

For me, it would have to get significantly hotter and be that hot for a significant number of days in the year. Today is the middle of what could be the hottest day of the year and it's 24 degrees outside and 21 in my flat, which is bearable. And the forecast for the next few weeks is for temps all lower than today. I think it would have to be in the high twenties regularly before I would look at getting air conditioning.

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carnage2006@reddit

If I had a pound for every air con post in the last two weeks, I could afford air con

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SaltyName8341@reddit

It would have to be bad for me, my passivhaus stays at 18C all year round.

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KeyJunket1175@reddit

I am used to having heat/cold ACs in every house, it's not really a luxury in Europe. It's strange that you Brits don't have ACs, given that in offices the central AC is always on 18C and if outside temperature goes above 22 the whole nation starts to complain. Why do you not have ACs in your 300-400-500k homes?

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Glittering_Copy8907@reddit

It's WFH which is the change which changes the justification - I think that's why we'll see a push in the UK. You can put up with being warm on weekends and overnight, but when you're stuck in a stuffy house all day the cost proposition looks a lot mroe tempting.

I got quite an expensive portable unit a few years back - I wouldn't have bothered if I was out all day every day like t'old days

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R05579@reddit

People are already considering it now, plenty of similar posts this week already. My in laws had aircon installed around 7 years ago to keep their south facing conservatory type room and lounge cooler. I've put off buyng it as we are moving soon but will consider in new house, at the very least will buy a portable unit for about £400.

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Fatuousgit@reddit

It isn't the climate that needs to change for me to invest in AC. It is the price of electricity in this country.

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cougieuk@reddit

Cheaper to get black out blinds etc to keep the heat out.

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OrganicPoet1823@reddit

I’ve already got a portable one as an impulse purchase in that rather warm summer of lockdown. When I get my forever house I’m getting a proper system fitted

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FinancialFix9074@reddit

The downstairs of my house is pretty cool. It's a 200 year old terraced cottage. I'm wearing a jumper today and yesterday I considered using my heated blanket.

Upstairs is a different matter. The roof has no insulation, which we're planning on getting but haven't gotten round to it, and it is like an OVEN in the summer. Like as soon as your head crosses floor level as you go up the stairs, it's a drastic shift in temperature of the air. You'd think it would be gradual but it's not.

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DrH1983@reddit

If I had my own place and wasn't lodging in someone else's I'd get it now.

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MDL1983@reddit

I'm there, but I haven't got it yet, only because I don't think this is my 'forever home'.

If on the fence about it, remember that aircon machines heat as well as cool, and dehumidify.

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mordac_the_preventer@reddit

The climate has already changed enough for me to consider it - I have a portable A/C unit running right now, and I looked up the price for a multi-split unit a couple of days ago. A split unit A/C has an extra feature - most of them work as air-source heat pump heaters too.

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