Oliver bought his home in 2020, one year after it was built, and said he had heard it had been well insulated.
“There wasn’t really any concern about the summers being too hot,” he says.
“I think that’s really what pushed us over the edge is how often and how hot it has been recently.”
Tristan echoes this point and says his company, TRS Cooling, has seen a particular rise in owners of new-build homes requesting the need for air conditioning.
“New builds are really well-insulated. Which is great in the winter but as soon as summer comes and you have prolonged periods of heat you can’t get the heat out of the property,” he said.
Retained warmth in brick and concrete can push night‑time temperatures in urban centres up to 7C higher than the surrounding countryside.
This is the urban heat island effect, and it is at its most dangerous in the early hours, when bodies need cooler air and cannot find it.
Tristan said that was where air-conditioning is a “great solution to removing heat from a property”.