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Summer heat is becoming the new winter cold in the UK. What are you doing about it?

Mars · 2026-06-26T09:47:56Z

With the UK heatwave in full swing (and it's probably not the last one this year) I wanted to open up a conversation about what people are actually doing to stay cool at home. Most of our homes were built to retain heat, not manage it. That's fine for 10 or 11 months of the year. It's increasingly not fine for the other months, and the irony of a community dedicated to keeping homes warm now having to think seriously about keeping them cool isn't lost on me. There's no silver bullet here and every house is different, but I'm curious what's actually working. Dyson or Vortex fans, do they make a meaningful difference or are they just expensive air movers? Blackout blinds, wet towels over windows, opening up at night and sealing the house through the day? What are you actually doing and what's had a genuine impact? My own conclusion after this week, we're going to install a small fixed AC unit in the garden room. It's our biggest heat contributor and it becomes genuinely unbearable in weather like this. I've tried the portable AC route and I'll be honest, they're pretty useless in serious heat. You need windows open to run the ducting out, which completely defeats the purpose. What have you done this heatwave? What's worked, what hasn't and what are you planning before the next one?

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EtchedPixels

(@etchedpixels)

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Joined: 1 month ago

Posts: 79

03/07/2026 10:45 am

@judith Standard UK style plastic frame double glazing modules can be supplied with vent holes and caps, you just have to ask a glazier or similar. They are used to it for kitchen fans and the like but aircon will be a new one to many.

For a fixed installation it depends hugely on

- Whether you are doing a mini-split or multi-split. Mini split (one room unit to one external) is cheaper but you generally only get one "permitted development" per house - unless detached (one rule for the rich .. 8) ) so fitting a mini-split might limit choices later if you target one room then change your mind.

- Whether the installer can run a single hole through your wall and slap one half on each side directly. That makes pipework and the like much much easier

- Whether it's all below "working at heights" regulations. If you have a unit a floor up then someone has to run the pipes down and stuff which will (or should!) require a scaffold tower in many cases.

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