It’s hot. Again. The UK isn’t built for heatwaves but the temps are rising. People are buying air conditioning units. Wall mounted, portable, doesn’t matter. Just cold air.
You’re probably stressing over the cost. Installation is pricey. Running bills hurt. Is it even worth it? We complain about the rain usually. The cold, not the heat. So why change?
You don’t need to cool every room. You don’t even want to. In my house only the bedrooms suffer. The rest? Fine. So I asked experts. Where does it actually help? And where is it a total scam?
Start with discomfort, not size
Stop thinking about square footage. Think about suffering. Tom Houlker from Houlkair puts it bluntly.
Look for the room that causes the most disaster. Not the biggest.
If a bedroom makes you sweat through the sheets. Or a home office feels like an oven while you type. Start there. It’s about usage. Insulation. Sun exposure. Airflow.
Experts agree on three zones.
1. The Bedroom
Specifically upstairs. South facing. This is where it hurts the most.
Modern homes trap heat like a greenhouse. Better insulation. Better double glazing. Bad for summer nights. Kevin Pennington sees houses hit 40 degrees. In the north. In cool but sunny weather. It gets uninhabitable.
Sam Carter notes something useful though. A bedroom heat pump isn’t just for summer. It helps sleep. Then in January it heats the room fast. Cheaper than firing up central heating for one room. Efficiency wins.
2. The Home Office
If you work from home you know this pain. Stuck at a desk. Sweating. Brain fog.
Temperature changes how you function. If it gets too hot or too cold you can’t focus. Tom Houlker warns about location here.
If the office stays cool anyway? Don’t buy fixed air con. You’re throwing money away. Look at portable units instead.
If the room has poor airflow or doors constantly open… you can end up paying for a why?
Because the system never earns its keep.
3. The Conservatory
It’s a glass box. Obviously it gets hot.
Pennington calls it what it is. A greenhouse. But these rooms have potential. If you put in a unit that heats and cools?
You get a usable space. No more freezer in winter. Oven in summer. Garden rooms and loft conversions are the same logic. They sit outside the main heating patterns of the house. They need their own control.
The places to avoid
Unless you’re building a new mansion don’t install it everywhere. Fixed units in wrong spots are just wasted cash.
Hallways? No.
Stairwells? Hard no.
Open landings? Skip it.
People think they can cool the whole house from one point at the top of the stairs. It doesn’t work. Cold air sinks. It falls like water.
You end up with an arctic hallway and a boiling bedroom upstairs. Useless. Put it where you sleep or sit. Not in the transit zones.
What about the kitchen?
Kevin says forget it. If you have an AGA cooker burning all day? Or a dishwasher and tumble dryer running?
The heat from those appliances will fight the AC unit forever. It’s a battle the air conditioner loses. Save your money.
Alternatives exist
Maybe you don’t need air conditioning at all. That’s okay.
But before you buy fans fix the windows.
Dark heavy curtains are the enemy. They absorb heat. Aluminium blinds do too. Kevin says to stop this. Switch to white curtains. Hang them right up against the glass. Reflect the sun away.
Add reflective film to the windows if you can.
Still need a fan? Try a misting one. Or a portable air cooler. They cost far less than AC. They work surprisingly well if you block the sun first.
Don’t just run into a store and buy the first white box you see. Look at where the heat comes in.
Is the room actually broken? Or are your curtains just trapping it?
