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UK climate "needs" AC for 1-2 months, one summer in three. And a fair chunk of that is the summer holiday season, when a lot of people won't be home anyway. I

UK climate "needs" AC for 1-2 months, one summer in three. And a fair chunk of that is the summer holiday season, when a lot of people won't be home anyway. It is possible to mis-design houses and apartments to need it more than that (extreme sun traps essentially); schools/offices and public transport are a different case because of the number of human bodies in a small space. But our homes need A/C so rarely that it's not worth it, same as most people don't have winter tyres or snow chains, or even know how to fit them. Materially significant amounts of snow for a few days one winter in three, unless you live in Scotland or the Pennines.

voidUpdate 2y ago
These days its practically every summer tbh :P The last two have been super bad for me, as my apartment is south facing and doesn't have any AC. I'm not looking forward to this summer at all haha
londons_explore 2y ago
Having living spaces too hot has a substantial effect on productivity. Bad sleep, lethargy, etc. As a government, it's probably a good move to encourage installation of AC in your citizens homes even if it only gets used a couple of days a year simply for the productivity benefits. Unfortunately, current UK policies on Heat Pumps specifically discourage installation of AC (you become ineligible for various grants if your heat pump system has a valve to allow use as an AC system).
huijzer 2y ago
Indeed, I think price of electricity but also climate explains the large difference between UK and US air conditioning usage. Many people forget that London (UK) has about the same latitude as Vancouver (Canada).
- Earw0rm 2y ago
  Indeed, and similar mild, rainy maritime climate.
eptcyka 2y ago
If you install heat pumps, which are the most efficient single-home way to heat a house, then you get AC for free.
JR1427 2y ago
Houses rarely need AC - we usually only get a few hot days in a row, with time for houses to cool down in between hot periods. It is also usually possible to get airflow through a house, and cool things down enough. Different story for badly built apartments, though. We used to live in a 1950s apartment, top floor with a flat roof. It reached 38C inside, when outside was 36C, and then wouldn't cool down at all during the night. It was unbearable, and we moved out!
- Earw0rm 2y ago
  Yep, definitely possible to design and build unpleasant sun traps! But also mostly possible (even for curtain-wall apartments) to avoid it with good design. Not much help if you buy an existing place whose builders didn't take hot summers into account though!

voidUpdate 2y ago

These days its practically every summer tbh :P The last two have been super bad for me, as my apartment is south facing and doesn't have any AC. I'm not looking forward to this summer at all haha

londons_explore 2y ago

Having living spaces too hot has a substantial effect on productivity. Bad sleep, lethargy, etc. As a government, it's probably a good move to encourage installation of AC in your citizens homes even if it only gets used a couple of days a year simply for the productivity benefits. Unfortunately, current UK policies on Heat Pumps specifically discourage installation of AC (you become ineligible for various grants if your heat pump system has a valve to allow use as an AC system).

huijzer 2y ago

Indeed, I think price of electricity but also climate explains the large difference between UK and US air conditioning usage. Many people forget that London (UK) has about the same latitude as Vancouver (Canada).

Earw0rm 2y ago
Indeed, and similar mild, rainy maritime climate.

eptcyka 2y ago

If you install heat pumps, which are the most efficient single-home way to heat a house, then you get AC for free.

JR1427 2y ago

Houses rarely need AC - we usually only get a few hot days in a row, with time for houses to cool down in between hot periods. It is also usually possible to get airflow through a house, and cool things down enough. Different story for badly built apartments, though. We used to live in a 1950s apartment, top floor with a flat roof. It reached 38C inside, when outside was 36C, and then wouldn't cool down at all during the night. It was unbearable, and we moved out!

Earw0rm 2y ago
Yep, definitely possible to design and build unpleasant sun traps! But also mostly possible (even for curtain-wall apartments) to avoid it with good design. Not much help if you buy an existing place whose builders didn't take hot summers into account though!