BBCSummer temperature has ended with more Britain to turn to air conditioning to cope with summer in summer – but should you buy a single one?
The benefits of air-con are well documented. Studies show that Hot days work and do less efficient studies And it is difficult to achieve a good night sleep.
However, it uses additional electricity – the price of which is much higher than a few years ago – and the environment groups are concerned about the chemicals used to cool the air.
Some consumers also worry that air -con devices spread the virus – but it has not stopped increasing sales.
John Lewis tells us that it is selling 8% more portable air-con units than the previous year than the previous year.
Currys saw a jump in orders of 140% in June – Second most hot recorded – Compared to a single month in 2024.
BBC News spoke to three experts whether environment, financial and medical concerns about air conditioning are well established.
Is air-con bad bad for the environment?
“It should not be an option between being calm and saving the planet,” says Avis Mahapatra of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).
The charity she works for sees companies whose commercial practices harm the environment.
He is particularly concerned about how cooling chemicals used in air-con equipment contribute to climate warming.
Most air conditioners in the world use some forms of hydrophlorocarbon (HFC), which are Highly powerful greenhouse gases This mesh is quite high in the atmosphere in equal amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2).
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, an HFC can be thousands of thousands of thousands of thousand times more powerful.
If air-conn units are damaged or are not properly dealt, HFC can participate in the atmosphere. Poorly -made people can also leak the chemical gradually.
Ms. Mahapatra feels that manufacturers should use less harmful chemicals in their units, such as They now do for some big refrigerators Sold the supermarket.
This change followed campaigns led by environmental groups such as EIA, but such an infection has not yet occurred in the air conditioning industry as HFCs remain an inexpensive and effective cooling chemicals.
Till then Ms. Mahapatra recommends consumers to dispose of their air-con equipment through recycling centers, so that HFCs inside can be reused or destroyed properly.
She also wants people to buy more energy efficient units. This means spending more money, but in the long run, it can save cash using low electricity.
Consumers can also do this by using it on hot days only.
This is what Ed Hijlet does. He uses his portable air conditioning device for about 15 days to keep his bedroom cool and help him better sleep.
Is it expensive to use air-con?
He says that he bought his device for about 300 pounds a few years ago and it is worth the comfort that provides with the running cost.
“My portable unit saves about 2.6 kW cooling. It is about one kilowatt electricity, so it is about 22p per hour for me to run. It’s not trivial.”
If it was really warm and he changed it throughout the day and night, it only costs more than £ 5 – although it would cool down just one room and not its entire house.
Research from the University of East London published in April found that around 80% of British became hot in summer.
According to the survey, he did, the use of air conditioning increased rapidly to 2022 – when about 21% of the houses used some forms.
In 2011, a government survey found that only 2-3% of families had any type of portable or fixed air cooling unit.
A research firm Bisaria, estimating that the figure was between 3–5% for the period between 2013–19.
Sri Hijlet Center for British Progress works as an energy analyst for Thinktank, who published a report for legal changes last month that would make more economical for people to install air conditioning systems that are capable of cooling their entire house.
A proposed change is the government’s boiler upgrade scheme, which gives home owners money to replace their gas boilers with an option that does not rely on fossil fuels – such as heat pumps and biomass boilers.
Government wants to reduce UK carbon emissions By encouraging people to use heat pumps operated with clean energy from sources such as air and solar.
Currently, the scheme does not include air-to-air heat pump as an alternative, but Mr. Hijlet feels that it should be because they can provide cooling as well as heating.
“My thought is that if you can benefit consumers – carrots and not only sticks – then you are more likely to adopt the heat pump,” they say.
Using air-to-air heat pumps means that consumer can solve two problems with a piece of technology-reducing their carbon emissions and cooling them in hot days. But they are expensive without government grants.
The cost of installing such heat pump depends on what kind of house you have and the heating and water system already is in it; The estimate varies from £ 4,000- £ 10,000.
Grant for eligible heat pumps under boiler upgrade scheme – None of which can provide air -con – its price is £ 7,500 and British gas says that in 2023 the average installation cost for its customers was £ 5,690.
Does Air-Con make you sick?
One of the most common concerns among people considering air conditioner is whether it makes them sick.
Dr. Dr, an associate professor in Clinical Microbiology at Lester University. Primaroz Freastone says that this can be a symptom known as sick building syndrome.
“What the air conditioning does, the air is to change the structure, so the air is cold and the air dries up. The effect on you is that it dries your mucus airway from the back of your nose and your throat.”
It can develop some people such as a cough or flowing nose, but air-con leads only serious problems such as infections when units are maintained or impure.
“The virus can be transmitted, and by bacteria as well as air conditioning systems as they can get cold. This means that you get a condensation and you get water construction until the air conditioning system is well maintained.”
Legonaires disease is one of the more common infections that can arise from poorly laid units. In rare cases, they can usually spread diseases that are not considered aerial.
“In China, in a kindergarten, Norovirus, which is usually transmitted by hand or surfaces, is mixed into the air and infected half of the orbit.”
Dr. Freestone says that such examples can be avoided if air-con units are of good quality, kept clean and its filters have changed regularly to the manufacturers’ guidance.
“In this way your air-cona system is less likely to be a source of infection and irritation and is actually more likely to make air cleaner.”
For Ms. Mahapatra, the requirement of Air -Con is clear – It reduces heat related deaths – But the industry needs to be replaced.
“I think air conditioning actually represents a contradiction,” she says.
“It can save life during heatwave and it is essential for human livelihood in many ways, but it is specific [HFC] The refrigerant are powerful greenhouse gas. ,
She says this is The technology available today was given unnecessary And thinks that these important consumers demand customizing their manufacturers.
“In a hot world, cooling is no longer a luxury.”
