The UK does definitely sell dual hose. However, there is very little stock imported and the portable units are procured in large batches. Eg stock sold now is what is left from the summer periods at outlets such as appliances direct, air con direct etc. I found this out as I wanted a specific model and messaged them when it sold out in June, they said they get stock around Easter so there would be none in stock till the following year. My mum wanted a unit and I saw a dual hose in The Range early this year, we went down a few weeks later and it was gone. The staff said “we don’t sell dual hose.” When I flagged the model we had seen they said “we had about 3 of them.” So, it made me think, the stocks supplied to the UK are very limited.

We later saw a dual hose in Homebase in Luton, by chance, as they didn’t have any on their website… it was display model, and they had none left in stock otherwise.

The manager said his son was in commercial air systems, and that the general climate in the UK isn’t consistently hot enough that people in the UK understand how AC / HVAC systems work. This means they won’t pay the premium for a dual hose and see it at face value, that is “why do I want two giant hoses when I can have one!?” & “whys it more expensive and has two giant ugly hoses when this one’s got it all in one?” Of course, there’s no such thing as all in one. Consumers lack interest in AC, as it’s often only used for the month or two where it gets hot, eg this year we had 40 Celsius (105 Fahrenheit) predictions for around 1 or 2 weeks. The traditional radiator systems, stemming from coal fire / gas fire days, with back boilers, mean a gas combi boiler is commonplace in the UK, and it is rare to see a ducted heating / cooling system in homes in the UK. If more people had ducting and HVAC there would be a greater interest, which would be beneficial given the ventilation problems we see in many UK homes which are insulated to death, with radiant heat, and limited mechanical ventilation which limits air flow / indoor air quality.

So I think he’s totally right…

Another thing that stems to mind:

Most people that buy a unit in the UK are unaware that it even contains refrigerant. People in general in the UK they don’t seem to know what a refrigerant is, and don’t understand the different types of refrigerant.

There’s a misconception that air conditioning is terrible for the environment, because it “uses so much electricity.” Although, that’s not really the reason for its environmental impact, especially given electricity is increasingly from renewable sources. Rather, some refrigerants, have very high global warming potential (GWP), which is a measure of how much the refrigerant will warm the planet, compared with the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide gas emitted into the atmosphere. IE a refrigerant with a GWP of 2000, such as some of the most common refrigerants used in commercial buildings in the UK, means the refrigerant gas is 2000x more warming, compared with the same amount of carbon dioxide emitted.

There are plenty of low GWP options, however there is a trade off, in that lower GWP options have traditionally been more flammable, although advancements are changing this.

There’s even older types of refrigerant eg freon R-22 which was one of the most widely used refrigerants ever, and despite being phased out / banned, is still widely used in commercial settings in particular. The problem with this refrigerant is it damaged the ozone layer due to it being a HCFC, as well as warming the planet. Unfortunately, alternatives designed to fix this, such as freon R-410A, solve the issue of ozone layer depletion, but still have a Global Warming Potential of approx 2000. IE it has quite a high potential to heat the planet if the gas is lost (eg appliance leaks the gas).

One of the things that genuinely hurts my heart is I find even people who drive cars in this country don’t understand the concept of refrigerant gas in their vehicles. It’s common that I see people turning on their vehicles AC only when it’s “hot.” They’re unaware that the system needs to be utilised, even during winter, to ensure the rubber seals and ducting joints, remain lubricated, to prevent cracks appearing. Refrigerant gas will escape very quickly if a crack forms.

They turn the vehicles AC off as there’s this belief that running it is “bad for the planet.” So they feel bad running the AC switch, when it’s cool. Whilst this is good intended, the net result is that the system isn’t lubricated during the colder times. Then all of the refrigerant leaks via a crack that forms. This is refrigerant that’s many thousand times more warming to the planet than carbon dioxide (CO2).

When the summer comes along, they find their AC doesn’t work. So they generally put up with no cool air, or pay to have it regassed. The service technicians performing the regas don’t inform them of why it happened, as they want to make a quick buck, doing the same job next year, and the next… All of this time, it’s a total train wreck on the planet.

Refrigerant should be stored adequately, and if a systems used correctly, there’s no reason for the gas to leak out for decades. If people understood this better, they’d run their AC more frequently to keep the gas contained.

There does need to be some education that goes alongside AC systems in the UK. Even a quick poster alongside the portable AC unit that explains the benefit of dual hose. Once a consumer gets it, they don’t want a single hose. Manufacturers need to do better at explaining dual hose, even just saying “Balances the amount of air in a room. Single hose, extracts air but doesn’t replace it. This worsens efficiency, reduces air quality and costs more to run.”