Londoner Zainab Hussain once saw air conditioning as a luxury in Britain. Now, the 35-year-old “can’t see how we’ll survive without it”. <\/p>\n
She and her husband are among a small but growing proportion of British households embracing AC to deal with increasingly hot summers. <\/p>\n
But the trend has attracted criticism, particularly from sustainability experts who argue it should not be the “default answer”. <\/p>\n
“It’s seen as a quick fix and it’s not actually, because it can cause a lot of damage,” Rajat Gupta, professor of sustainable architecture and climate change at Oxford Brookes University, told AFP. <\/p>\n
He noted AC increases electricity demand, energy bills and carbon emissions, while worsening the so-called urban heat island effect by releasing hot air onto city streets. <\/p>\n
However, after sweltering at night through the second heatwave of 2026 last month, the Hussain family were undeterred, opting to add AC upstairs at their semi-detached home in the south London suburb Selsdon. <\/p>\n
“We realized that our summers were just getting more and more unbearable, so it was something that we definitely needed to have for the downstairs area,” Hussain explained. <\/p>\n
“But after last week’s heatwave, we realized that actually upstairs was really unbearable as well,” she added, as workers fitted the new appliance. <\/p>\n
– Wanted ‘now’ – <\/p>\n
Only around 5 percent of British homes have AC while half overheat during the summer months, according to a 2025 report by the non-partisan Centre for British Progress think tank. <\/p>\n
Urging more AC adoption, it cited the growing risks from heat-related deaths — which number in the low thousands each summer — and lost productivity. <\/p>\n
Such calls have increased as UK temperature records tumble. <\/p>\n
For the second successive year, England last month experienced its warmest June since records began in 1884. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile all of Britain’s five warmest summers have occurred in the 21st century, with last year the hottest. <\/p>\n
Scientists say human-induced climate change is making such weather more frequent and intense. <\/p>\n
For AC installer Joe Springett, who has worked in the industry nearly two decades, the rising mercury has triggered a gradual shift in his business away from offices and retailers. <\/p>\n
“I’m getting busier and busier domestically, where people want it in their houses,” the 35-year-old told AFP while fitting Hussain’s new unit. <\/p>\n
“It happens every year. As soon as the [hot] weather comes, bang! The phone’s ringing … everyone wants it now.” <\/p>\n
After the latest heatwave, Springett was booked up for several weeks and has been struggling to find stock. <\/p>\n
Those without the outside space or budget — appliances can cost several thousand pounds, including installation — are instead ordering more basic, portable units. <\/p>\n
Retailers’ websites are now showing such items as sold-out. <\/p>\n
Home improvement store B&Q told AFP it has seen twice as many searches for portable AC units this year compared to 2025. <\/p>\n
– ‘Only when necessary’ – <\/p>\n
Gupta is dismayed at the “panic buying”, arguing “the most sustainable approach is to look at improving buildings to stay cool naturally”. <\/p>\n
He advocates retrofitting buildings with exterior and interior shading, better ventilation and other “green-ing” measures, alongside improved heat-resilience design for new-builds. <\/p>\n
AC should be reserved for the most vulnerable, such as those in care home and hospital settings. <\/p>\n
“In homes, it hasn’t become widespread yet, and it’s better to keep it that way,” Gupta said. “Use it only when necessary and where necessary.” <\/p>\n
In the UK, AC running costs can vary widely depending on numerous factors, including the type and efficiency of the system and how often it is used. <\/p>\n
But some estimates suggest more powerful units can add hundreds of pounds to monthly bills. <\/p>\n
John Calautit, a sustainability lecturer at University College London (UCL), is another AC sceptic. <\/p>\n
He noted most British buildings are designed to retain warmth and “cannot cope” with heatwave conditions. <\/p>\n
“We need to look at more simple solutions such as adding shading … reflective materials and then moving on to natural ventilation,” he told AFP. <\/p>\n
“If those solutions do not work, then we can start looking at mechanical cooling systems.” <\/p>\n
Back in south London, Springett argues Britons have “got to move with the times, the climate” and adopt AC. <\/p>\n
For Hussain’s family, whose home has south-facing windows exposed to direct sunlight throughout the day, it seemed the only option. <\/p>\n
“We spend so much more time at home now, especially with remote working, it’s not just about it being comfortable. We need to be able to function in the house.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Londoner Zainab Hussain once saw air conditioning as a luxury in Britain. Now, the 35-year-old “can’t see how…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":783354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-783353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}