{"id":608756,"date":"2026-05-28T16:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/608756\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T16:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:22:08","slug":"should-i-get-air-conditioning-in-the-uk-and-can-it-be-green-energy-efficiency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/608756\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I get air conditioning in the UK \u2013 and can it be green? | Energy efficiency"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a heatwave struck the UK<\/a> this week, Jon Connorton, a software developer, began monitoring temperatures inside his east Hampshire terrace house. With some rooms reaching close to 40C, it was time to deploy the air conditioner. \u201cWe just wheel it out in emergencies,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were having trouble sleeping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connorton and his wife have a portable air conditioner. These plug-in devices cool interior air by removing heat from it and blowing that heat outside, typically via a large hose slung from a window or door.<\/p>\n

Connorton only runs the unit occasionally, and when the solar panels on his roof can cover its power needs. But he still questions his use of the technology. \u201cYou feel it\u2019s a luxury and that you\u2019re being bad for the environment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Do I need air conditioning in the UK?Most British homes are not built for extreme heat. Photograph: demaerre\/Getty<\/p>\n

British homeowners are rapidly acquiring air conditioners as the climate crisis superheats our summers. An estimated 4m homes have an air conditioner<\/a>, double the figure from three years ago.<\/p>\n

Portable units with power ratings of about 1kW are slightly more common than the more powerful built-in versions that can guzzle 2.7kW of power \u2013 more than an electric oven.<\/p>\n

About 22% of British homes would require active cooling, such as air conditioners, with 2C of global heating, the government\u2019s climate advisers said in a report last week<\/a>. But this brings risks. Air conditioners are energy-hungry and some researchers say they could threaten progress towards net zero<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nicole Miranda, a sustainable cooling researcher and carbon reduction manager for the University of Oxford, agrees. But she said Connorton\u2019s approach of pairing air conditioning with solar electricity was \u201cgood thinking\u201d, adding: \u201cThat\u2019s really considerate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can air conditioning be green?Green roofs can help to keep buildings cool \u2013 and you can power your air conditioner using solar. Photograph: Pat Tuson\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Because air-conditioning units use more energy than other cooling devices, this results in more carbon emissions, according to the Energy Saving Trust. Using a portable unit for an average of eight hours a day during the summer would result in about 4.87kg of CO2 emissions, roughly equivalent to driving 18 miles.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have solar panels but still feel an air conditioner is essential, one approach could be running it only when there is a high level of renewable energy<\/a> on the grid \u2013 for example during the sunniest part of the day.<\/p>\n

You may choose to pre-cool rooms before the evening peak in electricity demand. Or you could power the air conditioner with a home battery that charges up during renewable energy surpluses, helping you make the most of renewables without owning them yourself.<\/p>\n

Andrew Sissons, the sustainable future director at the charity Nesta said people should not feel guilty for using air conditioning \u2013 even the less efficient portable devices were probably used only as a \u201clast resort\u201d by many. Miranda noted that air conditioners could help to keep people safe, especially children, older and vulnerable individuals, during potentially deadly<\/a> hot weather.<\/p>\n

Natalie Mathie, an energy expert at Uswitch, said: \u201cAir conditioning that runs purely on grid electricity won\u2019t be truly \u2018green\u2019 until the entire grid runs on renewable energy. Heat pumps move heat around rather than generating it and can produce about three units of cooling output for every unit of electricity they use.\u201d<\/p>\n

What kind of air conditioning could I get?Built-in air conditioners are nearly three times more expensive to run than portable versions. Photograph: David Taljat\/Getty<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note that not all air conditioners are alike. Richard Lowes, the global lead for heat and buildings at the Regulatory Assistance Project, an energy thinktank, said portable versions were relatively inefficient. By blowing air out, they lower air pressure indoors, so some warm air is inevitably drawn back inside via the window or door left slightly ajar for the exhaust hose.<\/p>\n

If you invest in built-in air conditioning, make sure you get the right size unit for the room you\u2019ll be cooling (think about it in the same way as you do a radiator). A wall-mounted unit powerful enough (12,000 BTU) to cool the average British bedroom costs about \u00a3750, plus \u00a31,150 for installation, according to Checkatrade. The equivalent portable unit costs \u00a3350. Given their power ratings, it is likely that running costs of built-in conditioners would be nearly three times those of a portable version.<\/p>\n

Air conditioners work using the same principle as heat pumps \u2013 they move heat from one place to another with the help of a refrigerant fluid. But the devices generally referred to as \u201cair-to-air heat pumps\u201d are reversible and can provide heating as well as cooling.<\/p>\n

An air-to-air heat pump<\/a>, where the external and internal units are connected by well-sealed pipes through the property\u2019s outer walls, is perhaps the best option for the environment.<\/p>\n

Homeowners who switched from oil or gas heating to an electric-powered air-to-air heat pump, and used it for winter heating and summer cooling, were decarbonising their homes, added Sissons. \u201cThat is a big climate win, we shouldn\u2019t discourage that at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government is to offer a \u00a32,500 grant<\/a> to homeowners in England and Wales for replacing a fossil fuel-based heating system with an air-to-air heat pump, which are at present rarely installed.<\/p>\n

What about other ways of keeping cool?Shutters to block out the sun are another option. Photograph: Kevin Britland\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Consider also passive cooling steps such as shading windows<\/a>, naturally ventilating your home when temperatures fall at night and adding green roofs or additional insulation to reduce how much heat gets in. Such measures may be enough on their own and would lower an air conditioner\u2019s energy demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been getting wet towels and putting them up like curtains with a fan,\u201d said Miranda. There was a danger, she added, that people who had air conditioners would end up using them more often than necessary, which would raise their energy consumption impact.<\/p>\n

How do fans compare with air conditioning?Fans are cheaper than air conditioning, with minimal carbon emissions. Photograph: MementoJpeg\/Getty<\/p>\n

The typical cost of running a fan continuously for 24 hours in Great Britain is 15p-31p*, according to the Energy Saving Trust. Because of their low energy use, a fan results in minimal carbon emissions.<\/p>\n

Round-the-clock use of a portable air conditioning unit cost \u00a35 on the same basis, it said. They are more expensive to buy than most fans and using one solidly for 24 hours costs more than 20 times as much as a typical freestanding fan.<\/p>\n

A 2021 study<\/a> found that using an electric fan alone would have been comparable to an air conditioner, in terms of preventing heat stress, during hot weather days between 2007 and 2019.<\/p>\n

Connorton is considering getting a more efficient air conditioner because he expects he and his wife will rely on cooling more frequently. \u201cWe\u2019ve all noticed how the climate has changed in the UK, and how different summers are,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a worry.\u201d<\/p>\n

* Energy<\/a> Saving Trust figures for Great Britain correct as of May 2026, based on an electricity price of 24.7p\/kWh and a gas price of 5.7\/kWh, calculated from a weighted average of projected, current and recent energy price caps<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a heatwave struck the UK this week, Jon Connorton, a software developer, began monitoring temperatures inside his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-608756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}