Fan vs air con - how to survive summer?
Posted by vollol@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 114 comments
Blue skies and sunshine today in my bit of the UK has got me thinking about the 2 weeks of wonderful weather we’re hopefully going to have and how to survive it as someone who works from home in a small flat.
Top tips from last summer? Fans or air con units that were worth it?
I live in a pretty small flat that has a south facing living area so it gets fairly hot through the day even with the blinds and windows closed. I braved it through without even a fan but it wasn’t pleasant.
Trying to be prepared before the inevitable heatwave so all tips appreciated.
Effective-Stretch951@reddit
Bedroom is a little under 7m squared. Squeeze past our king bed to get to the other size of the room and a little over foot space. Homcom air-con unit we have had for 3-4 years lives there beside me. When not on air-con mode and hooked up with an exhaust and drainage pipe just the powerful fan is lovely though. It’s on the end of my bed a ft away from my face. Loud and slight tinnitus when i wake up but hey. I always sleep cool. You’ll not regret it.
audigex@reddit
A 12000 BTU portable air conditioner is absolutely transformative for an average UK flat
Stick the hose out of the window and you can easily cool things down to a comfortable level
I used to set it up in the bedroom because a cool room to sleep in makes the biggest difference, and then just leave the doors open so it cools the rest of the flat down. A fan to direct the cool air to a specific room can help too
chutneyandpickle@reddit
Just something that may make an air con unit seem more ‘worth it’ for the weeks it’s not warm - we got a air conditioner/dehumidifier, it was about £300, and the rest of the year it gets used to dry clothes inside without making the house damp. If you can put it in a separate room and close the door, it’s honestly better than my tumble dryer. Quicker, drier, cheaper. Still a big thing to store of course but another use at least!
vollol@reddit (OP)
An interesting argument! Thank you!
potato_face1234@reddit
So brave, why did you not buy a fan?
Mammoth-Passion-413@reddit
I have a Homcom air con unit I paid £145 for and it came with a seperate 10M hose. I have it running now out the back door and at night it runs out the bathroom window and into my bed room.
Best £145 ever - got it from B and Q I think
vikingraider47@reddit
Do you run it all night or put it on for a couple of hours before bed?
Mammoth-Passion-413@reddit
I used to run it all night to be honest. But it can be noisy so now I run it for 1 hour before bed and the room stays cool all night. Obviously like any AC you don't need the windows open. I've woken up at about 8am when the suns been out since 4am and the room is just going from cold to pleasent.
They really are great little things. I used to have one that used ICE but that became a chore. Got to have a compressor now.
vollol@reddit (OP)
Interesting! That’s a lot less than the majority I’ve seen.
Mammoth-Passion-413@reddit
I took a pic of it for you - It's a fan and a Dehumdifier also. It is 1ft wide. 1ft deep and 2ft high
vollol@reddit (OP)
Oooh! That looks decent for that price! Worth considering, thank you!
Mammoth-Passion-413@reddit
It does really work well. The room is cold now I had to turn it off for 5 mins and put the fan on
Mammoth-Passion-413@reddit
It uses 600W from what my smart meter tells me.
twentyone_cats@reddit
Air cons are great but in a small space there are things to bear in mind - they're bulky and not easy to store for the 50 weeks a year they're not in use, they have to go in front of the window so you can stick the tube out which somehow always seems to be completely in the way, and (not exclusive to small spaces) they're really expensive to run. Also really noisy. I don't regret getting mine but it definitely gets in the way. I bought a reconditioned one which has been great.
Mammoth-Passion-413@reddit
Mine is 560W when the compressor is on. So not really - the ones you have on the wall yes they are gutsy- but not portable ones
vikingraider47@reddit
how much per hour is it to run?
Mammoth-Passion-413@reddit
I really couldn't tell you for sure as I have Solar and a big battery, But on my tariff which is EON Next so about 28p in the day. I did have a bit of usage yesterday and 1.43kW was 13p/hour so I guess you can divide that a bit? I would hazard a guess based on that at about 5-6p an hour. It does have a sensor in it so it cycles if you set it to say 17-18. I just have it on max low as I am a physcho and can't stand the sun lol
vollol@reddit (OP)
Yeah that’s the biggest issue! I’m hoping someone has some idea I haven’t thought of but I think it’s have big bulky thing and find somewhere to store, or just deal with it (while sitting in the dark)
Mammoth-Passion-413@reddit
Mine is as wide as a pedal bin and as is shorter than the hoover. You will find a place
perishingtardis@reddit
I have just bought a Meaco MC10000 air con unit, having sworn to myself last summer that this year I would just fork out and do it.
I tested it yesterday and it seems very good, within an hour the bedroom felt like a fridge.
vollol@reddit (OP)
I def want one of these but in a small flat hard to figure out where I’d keep it 50 weeks of the year!
Absers@reddit
Hire one from Hss tools.
nathderbyshire@reddit
Same, I'll probably have to take over part of my friends loft. She's got a whole apartment itself up there!
Esoteric_Prurience@reddit
When I had a flat I stuck mine in my parents cellar for the rest of the year. Do you have access to a friends/family storage space?
Unhappy-Common@reddit
I shove mine in a corner and it gets used as a table for storage
Mischeese@reddit
Our mobile air con unit lives under the window in corner of our bedroom, you stop noticing it after a while. We admittedly have massive 4m 1930s bay windows so it’s like living in a greenhouse come May. But we use it pretty much daily from May to September now.
If we were staying in this house I’d get something properly fitted but we intend to move. When you do get one, check the decibel level, ours is 65db ideally I’d get one that’s quieter now. But over all I love it!
Wiltix@reddit
It’s so worth it, and you will use it pretty much April to September.
badger1234321@reddit
I got one of those ones which also works as a dehumidifier and a heater so you can use it year round
nonoanddefinitelyno@reddit
You will not begrudge one second of those 50 weeks when it hits 26+
Supergoose5000@reddit
Sold.
Ocean_Runner@reddit
My bedroom is the converted attic under a tiled roof and only has a large Velux window, so it properly bakes in the sun during the summer in the south of England.
Usually a fan and an open window is good enough but after a couple of summers where some days it is just too hot and humid to sleep I invested in a small portable AC unit, the type with a vent pipe to blow the hot air out of the window, along with one of those velcro stick on kits that block off the gaps of an open velux around the pipe.
I find it is way too noisy to have on all night, the pumps are quite rattly/rumbling, but I go and switch it on around 2hrs before going to bed and it is like a fridge up there, it takes all the heat out of the room so I can just switch it off and go straight to sleep with the fan. It is not used very much but is so worth it when you need it.
Dr-Moth@reddit
I got a cheap aircon that doubles as a dehumidifier. If I was doing it again, I would have boughts a more expensive one, it makes my home office usable during summer. I don't run it when not needed though, it's not cheap to run.
maccon25@reddit
curtains windows shut alll day - only open curtain + window once it is dark / as late as possible
SeriousFortune1392@reddit
Omg this, no one ever believes me when I say this, do not open the windows during a heatwave. you're letting the hot air in.
I'll never forget when we had 40°C heat one year, and I had COVID at the time, so I was isolating in my bedroom, and I told everyone to keep the windows and curtains shut. It would keep it cool. No one listened, and my mum genuinely risked getting COVID because my room was the coolest in the house, and she was going through the menopause.
KingDaveRa@reddit
I've got a wind out awning over the living room window (faces south west). Makes the house look a little bit like a café, but my god does it work. Keeps the living room temperature right down. Every other room I leave the blind down and curtains drawn until the sun sods off and then open it all up and dump the heat in the evening.
It's pretty effective. If we ever get solar I'd be more inclined to get an AC unit but I just don't fancy the running cost. The heat isn't enough to make me want to pay. Yet.
maccon25@reddit
we seem to have forgotten the natural ways to cool with urbanisation / modern tech
JayR_97@reddit
The problem is this doesn't work when its like 25 degrees in the evening
maccon25@reddit
honestly it does, you just have to wait long enough before opening the windows - then the gradient sucks the hot air and replaces it with cool - ofc not useful if you have to work inside ur bedroom in the day -
Fit-Bedroom-7645@reddit
I'll switch my portable heat pumps from heating mode to cooling mode.
RecentTwo544@reddit
Just said this in another thread, if you can't afford air con (units aren't that cheap, and they eat electricity) then a big cheap fan is by far your best option - https://www.screwfix.com/p/essentials-18-floor-fan-220-240v/521eh
Avoid Dyson - you're paying an order of magnitude more for nice design and a useless fan.
Don't sweat (yes, very funny) over humidity either. It's a commonly repeated myth that "heat in the UK feels worse because of the humidity" but this isn't true. We generally have quite low humidity in the UK, around 30% max when we get hot weather. My wife is from Vietnam and says the heat here is way worse, and 90-100% humidity is just the norm there.
It's basically building design, so try to account for that -
- Keep blackout curtains shut on windows facing the sun where possible.
- Get that reflective covering stuff you can stick to windows, but put it outside not inside as it can severely damage double glazing units. If not safe to apply yourself, get someone who knows what they're doing to do it for you.
- Open windows at night (even in UK heatwaves, it generally gets hot in the day but cool/cold at night) then close them early morning before the temperature rises.
- If you buy one of those Screwfix fans (or a few of them) then direct air through the house towards the sunny side - so open a window/door on the shade side with one fan pointing in, then another on the sunny side facing out and it'll be pulling cooler air through the house.
- Buy a cheap plastic container, big as you can, from a local hardware store then put a load of ice and water in front of the inward facing fan.
Mickleborough@reddit
So true about Dyson fans - they seem to blow no air. Traditional fans from Argos of wherever are cheaper and more effective.
Kobbett@reddit
I bought a cheap fan from Argos during the 2003 heatwave. Still working, and it's run non-stop for a week at times.
the_sunflwrgrl@reddit
I got a cheap desktop one from Woolworths from the same year, and still works perfectly well.
vollol@reddit (OP)
I assume this is a typo, or this is an even better endorsement! 23 years!
Kobbett@reddit
It was Argos's cheapo 'Challenge' brand. But anything you buy these days probably won't last as long due to enshittification.
RecentTwo544@reddit
Exactly, and I don't even have an issue with Dyson products. If you want to pay more for a nice design, have at it. But just know they aren't practical.
luckeratron@reddit
I have aircon in two bedrooms that is used all summer and they are very efficient genuinely don't cost that much.
necronomicoder@reddit
Dyson don't work well, and also the owner is a total piece of work so it's a win win avoiding. Even a cheap standalone Aircon unit beats a Dyson fan.
TyBattleCat@reddit
A friend also did hanging cold damp cloth by the fan
vollol@reddit (OP)
This all makes lots of sense. Thank you!
trouser_mouse@reddit
Meaco Aircon - they are on wheels so you can just keep it in a corner behind a door or something! Remember it needs to vent out of a window or door.
As someone with south-facing rooms I love mine!
IdiotBearPinkEdition@reddit
When my flat was getting to 35C, I'd spray myself with water intermittently and sit in front of a fan
vikingraider47@reddit
If you're struggling to sleep because of the heat, the only 'hack'(ice cubes in front of the fan and so on) I've found to work is to wet a towel, wring it out so it is damp and place that over you with a fan blowing at you. It will help you get to sleep
Neddlings55@reddit
I use those reflective black out portable sheet thingys.
By day my place is in darkness - as soon as the sun goes down its all doors and windows open.
vollol@reddit (OP)
It’s depressing when WFH but I think probably this has to be part of the deal.
nathderbyshire@reddit
Had a friend that always called me miserable for keeping the blinds closed and I'm like, you think this is misery? Let it get to 26° I'll show you misery 🤣
necronomicoder@reddit
Although I have Aircon, and blackout curtains, I found dimmable LED strips can deal with that.
I have acoustic panels behind the monitor in my office, so you can put dimmable strips there. I then have a govee light, and sync them all up so it can add a bit of life.
Neddlings55@reddit
Same situation. Get to know where the sun hits and what time too - you want your curtains closed before the sun hits your windows. I also leave my back door open all night - this really cools the place down when the temperature drops overnight. Not an option for everyone of course.
I use quite a decent powdered floor fan too. Especially as i work out at home and its unbearable in the summer without constant air buffeting me.
vollol@reddit (OP)
I’m ground floor flat so it’s a bit tricky. I have my blinds closed but the sun hits from about 9am to 7pm. Would be wonderful if it was an actual garden but it’s just some grass outside the flat.
Working in the dark in the summer is just so depressing but I appreciate the blinds / windows closed is probably the best plan!
Neddlings55@reddit
You could try getting a daylight therapy lamp if you are concerned about how it may impact your MH.
Odd-Accident-3287@reddit
Haha sounds like me every year , I’m in a flat my issue Isint the day but the evening , I can’t sleep when it’s to hot 🥵 And No room For a Air con unit , fans are to loud and Just circulate hot air around , I close my blinds before I leave in a morning so it’s cool went I get home
SpudFire@reddit
A fan will be enough most of the time. But you'll thank yourself for buying aircon when we get a few days of heatwave and the walls themselves are radiating heat and you're sweating your bollocks off constantly and nothing you do can cool you down enough to sleep.
Portable A/C, the higher the BTU the better and a window kit for the hose.
MysticSmeg@reddit
And the “should I get an AC unit” season begins. YES. STOP BEING SO BLOODY TIGHT. To anyone who asks this. Please just buy one. You pay a fortune to make your home warm right? Well fork out a fraction of that and be comfortable in the heat too.
vollol@reddit (OP)
Haha, fair enough. They’re big though! And I would only use it 2 weeks a year!
MysticSmeg@reddit
You’ll find you’ll use it way more than 2 weeks of the year. Great as well if you dry clothes inside as it’ll dehumidify
Tirno93@reddit
Something I’m always surprised people in the uk forget is that water is abundant and great for cooling! Slap a wet t shirt on you’ll be cool for hours. Run your arms under a cold tap and slap some on the inside of your knees and elbows. Barely need anything else when you do that every few hours
vollol@reddit (OP)
Looks weird on a professional video call though!
Tirno93@reddit
Save the white ones for the other video calls lol
jrw1982@reddit
Fully installed aircon here. Absolute bliss and worth every penny. I can also hear myself think when its running too unlike the old portable unit I had prior.
HoonBoy@reddit
I read this as Fan Vs Con Air and though we were getting a film critique
vollol@reddit (OP)
Con Air clearly the winner.
LCFCJIM@reddit
Have AC fitted. We got two rooms for £2.6k. it's a fan off the floor all year round, but also ice cold or fireplace warm for when you need it. Sure it was big outlay, but they are very efficient, long warranty, and a great selling point for the house in the future.
vollol@reddit (OP)
Selling this place in the next 12 months but definitely one for the future!
YouCantArgueWithThis@reddit
It's what, like 3 days? You can make it.
vollol@reddit (OP)
Last year was about 3 weeks. My main living area is also south facing. It’s not comfortable!
necronomicoder@reddit
I spent 16k, including council and leasehold changes to install very efficient air conditioning. My neighbours are dying, and me and the wife are happy.
Wifey was against it but I think it's put so much value on the property (central London, south facing).
vollol@reddit (OP)
Yeah that all makes absolute sense. Glad you have a doggy peep hole!
RoxyK1@reddit
Not sure it will cool enough but I have an HEPA air purifier that chucks out cold air. In winter it’s too cold but I can use it at night when hot to lower the temperature. It’s a Levoid Core 300 and has different settings sleep mode is like white noise. Most don’t do that I only found out when we replaced an old one.
vollol@reddit (OP)
I have one and feel it definitely cools! Probably not enough for the summer situ but good reminder to move it into my work space!
EverybodySayin@reddit
The portable pipe-out-the-window air con units do a great job. Just have to be aware that they're pretty noisy due to the compressor being built into the unit. They're about the same noisiness as a washing machine when it's spinning, to give you an idea. If you can buy a high BTU one and then have it over the other side of the area you're working in and use noise cancelling headphones, that'd be ideal.
indigomm@reddit
I use earplugs - a good pair reduce the noise to almost nothing.
vollol@reddit (OP)
Good tip on the noise. I spend a lot of time on calls so worth being aware of!
EverybodySayin@reddit
If you have the space to have it a good few metres away from you and you have good noise cancelling headphones and can noise gate your mic, then you'll be good. If it's a very small space then it might be a bit much.
vollol@reddit (OP)
It’s def not that small, could for sure put it in another adjacent room. Definitely good info though, thank you!
OhioRizzGyattSkibidi@reddit
get a portable ac unit (the kind that has a tube that goes out your window)
SpaffMonster2021@reddit
This is what I did as I work nights often - chuck in a velcro sealer kit from Amazon for £25ish) and a brand new portable AC unit (£200ish) and I can sleep comfortably.
Couple of years ago, it was stupidly humid and about 32c - my black cat walked into my room and plonked himself in front of the AC unit for hours and promptly passed out. He spent every minute of summer in front of it whenever it went above 25c - as did I.
If OP can find a refurbished or second hand one, that could be a winner for not a huge outlay.
vollol@reddit (OP)
It’s actually less about the money and more about the storage! I have two very fluffy cats who also need to be cooled down. Have already bought them little cooling mats which they’re now familiar with but unsure of the point. They’ll get it in a few weeks.
OhioRizzGyattSkibidi@reddit
amazon has a 30 day money back guarantee:)
HeartyBeast@reddit
Get plastic mesh fabric. Attach strong suckers to the corners with spacers so the mesh is away from the glass and and slap it on the outside of your windows.
Stops the sun before it gets to the window, keeks things shady. Chespisj
New-Bit-8931@reddit
South facing front of house, spare hobby room with PC in, it gets very hot.
Brough a portable AC unit. For the AC hose I brought a sheet of clear plastic with a hole cut for the hose. Sized to fit to window. So can still get light through. And neater looking than the fabric window seals.
Also recommend a insulating sleeve for the hose, as it radiates a lot of heat back into the room.
For most of the warmer days when dont need the full AC-ness, I just use it as a normal box fan. Bit noisier than a normal fan but getting use out of it and dont have to buy anything else.
I also have window tinting on the south side of the house. Reflective non glue film on the inside of the windows. Can really tell the difference in heat by touch between tinted and non tinted windows.
Additionally I found white nets create a light glow in the room making the sunshine feel harsher, so got some black nets. Bit of a gothinc feel in the living room now but it is all about breaking down that light ambience.
vollol@reddit (OP)
This is the detail I was after! Thank you!
Mickleborough@reddit
Air conditioning would be lovely but that seems to involve pipes and space required to put some external unit - so fans it is. And blinds to block the heat and sunlight.
Dannypan@reddit
All you need is a pipe out a window with a portable unit. They don't take up that much space unless you're in a seriously cramped room.
cryptowi@reddit
We've got AC and the outdoor unit is mounted about 10-12 ft off the ground
vollol@reddit (OP)
Unfortunately in a flat I don’t think I would be allowed to mount anything!
necronomicoder@reddit
You are, there is usually a communal space for it. The issue is distance. There are no regulations stopping it beyond boundary, i.e. it can't face a neighbour within 1m
I think there was legislation change you don't need planning permission if it's in your boundaries, although lease hold you will probably need a lease to alter.
For planning permission you need to commission a sound test. Happy to recommend companies if you are in London.
Dannypan@reddit
Air con all the way. Fans just move air around inside the room, air con sucks warm air out and replaces it with cool air. It's much more effective as it cools the entire room down, not just pushing moving air on you.
Fans are fine when you're just a bit warm, but for hot days air con reigns supreme.
RetiredFromIT@reddit
I had a portable air conditioner - unused and in storage for the last 5 years. I found it a faff arranging the air-out hose through a window.
I now much prefer fans - I have a Pro Breeze downstairs and a Shark upstairs. Both have optional oscillation - the Pro Breeze both vertical and side to side.
Both have remotes. The Pro Breeze also works from an app and with Alexa, which is terrific.
I find pointing the fan about 45° towards the ceiling is good for cooling a room - it stops hot air building up there, especially with oscillation.
I'm also lucky enough to have a bay window at the front of my living room, with 4 opening windows, and a conservatory at the back, with opening windows on 3 sides. On the stillest day, I can get a through breeze going, depending on which conservatory windows I open.
vollol@reddit (OP)
A fan fan! I was hoping to hear about clever uses of fans. This sounds good, thank you!
Poison_Regal31@reddit
I answered in the other thread. Absolutely Air Con. Best decision I made.
My apartment building is fairly new built. I’m top floor, no attic. So essentially I’m in the attic. The heat gets unbearable here. It really does.
I tried everything to make the best of it! In the end AC was the way to go.
A lot of the times you can pay instalments if one doesn’t quite have the budget.
vollol@reddit (OP)
I must have missed the other thread! Sure this one will get deleted soon as a result - sorry mods, I did look!
Yeah, being in energy efficient flats is great in winter, but unbearable in summer.
Poison_Regal31@reddit
Very true! I don’t need the heating on much in colder months but in the summer… it’s awful.
niteninja1@reddit
i have 2 portable aircons. they are a life saver
Kizzieuk@reddit
Close all windows and curtains during the day. open them in the evening when the sun goes down to freshen the air . Your home will stay lovely a cool during the day.
Everyone who comes into my home during a heat wave says how cool it is, I dont own AC or a fan and my home is south facing with a lot of windows
Plastic_Truth3053@reddit
I prefer ceiling fans as air con always make me ill for some reason,
AlternativeParfait13@reddit
Same conundrum. Our upstairs goes up into the roof, and the loft traps a painful amount of heat in the summer. Would love air con but it’s expensive.
CurrentlyHuman@reddit
So this is going to sound ridiculous, I work adjacent to this field and just had this idea: get a shower fan and attach it to your letterbox. I'm assuming you have a close? Might be cooler in there, extract that cool air and supply it into your own flat.
vollol@reddit (OP)
This is chaotic genius. I go out to the close to cool down!
Visible-Pomelo7748@reddit
I got a reasonably priced tower fan in Lidl last summer that was a life saver. Set it on oscillate and enjoy the breeze when it turns back to you. Blinds closed during the day, windows open at night.
vollol@reddit (OP)
Feel like a fan might be step one. Get something reasonable and see how it fares as the temp increases.
Visible-Pomelo7748@reddit
Air con is pricey for something you might not get a lot of use out of sadly. I'd try the most affordable option first and see how you get on. You have my sympathy because I'm always warm. I have portable fans in my work bag, on my desk, and a spare in my car just in case. Firmly believe we should be allowed to ring in sunny to work.
vollol@reddit (OP)
Haha absolutely agree on your last point!
And yeah, feels like a lot to drop on something we’ll only use for short periods.
WalkerJoggerSprinter@reddit
Tbh most answers here are just going to be a load of hot air.
Take both options for a spin to see what suits you best.
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