Is air conditioning worth it in the UK?

A few years ago, mentioning home air conditioning in Britain got you the same look as suggesting everyone install a swimming pool. For the three days of summer we get, apparently.

Fair enough. But if you have lived through a hot spell in a south-facing bedroom, a loft conversion or a modern flat, you probably already know the British climate is not quite that simple any more.

So, is it worth it. For some homes, yes, clearly. For others, honestly, no.

The rooms where it makes the most sense

You do not need to air-condition an entire house. Most people start with the one room that causes the most grief.

The bedroom

There is a fairly big difference between enjoying a sunny afternoon and trying to sleep in a roasting bedroom at midnight. Sleep is usually what tips the decision.

Loft conversions

Excellent for adding space. Also excellent at turning into saunas, for reasons we go through in the loft conversion guide.

Home offices

Working from home while slowly melting into your desk is not especially productive, and it is hard to justify heating or cooling the whole house for one person sitting upstairs.

South-facing living rooms

Big windows and plenty of light look lovely, right up to the point where the room starts holding on to heat well into the evening.

It is not only for summer

This is the biggest misconception, and it is the one that changes the maths.

The systems we spec are reversible air-to-air heat pumps. They cool a room in summer and heat it in winter, using the same equipment. We never spec cooling-only units.

So rather than an expensive appliance that does nothing for nine months of the year, you get an efficient heating and cooling system for that room. For a garden office, a converted garage or a loft bedroom, that can make a great deal of sense, particularly where the central heating struggles to reach.

What does it feel like compared with a fan

Better, and not by a small margin.

A fan moves warm air around the room. Air conditioning removes heat from the room, which is a different thing entirely.

You also do not need to recreate a hotel lobby in January. Most people simply want a bedroom that is comfortably cool rather than arctic, and a good system should hold the temperature you chose without you noticing it working.

Is it expensive to run

Not necessarily, and it depends heavily on how you use it.

Running cost varies with the unit, the room, the outside temperature and how aggressively you use it. The sensible way to run a system is not windows open, thermostat at its lowest setting, full power for eight hours.

Set a comfortable temperature, close windows and doors, and let the system maintain it. Modern inverter systems are designed to vary their output rather than constantly run flat out, so most of the energy goes into getting the room to temperature rather than holding it there.

Will you actually use it

This is probably the question to ask yourself.

If your home stays naturally cool and hot weather does not bother you, then no, this is not for you and we would rather say so.

But if every warm spell involves fans running overnight, curtains shut all day, children struggling to sleep, working in a roasting loft, or a serious conversation about whether sleeping downstairs would be cooler, you will probably value it considerably more than you expect.

Start with one room

You do not need to commit to the whole house.

The easiest way in is to fit it in the room where it makes the biggest difference, which for most households is the main bedroom. If you get on with it, you can look at the rest later, and what drives the cost is worth understanding before you do.

Fair warning: people who put a system in one bedroom develop a habit of wondering why the other bedrooms do not have one.