If you have air/air heat pumps, then they work equally well as a/c units. How many cars are sold these days without a/c?mjr wrote: ↑30 Jan 2023, 7:49pmWidespread air conditioning is mad. The problem is that the majority of people in the UK either can't (due to bad design, not lack of air con) or don't know how to control their home's temperature.Jon in Sweden wrote: ↑30 Jan 2023, 4:50pm Air conditioning is going to become a reality of life in the UK. It's mad that we don't have it in a more widespread fashion. Each year, the majority of people in the UK suffer badly through the various heatwaves as internal temperatures exceed 25c, 30c and more.
Not necessarily, if you vent an insulated house at night, then keep the shutters on the sun side set to shade during the day (using the shaded windows for light, which is plenty). For example, the high last 7 July here was 36°c, but the indoor temperature never reached 26°c and it only reached 25°c at 8pm. That's in an underinsulated 1990 English brick+tile house. I'm sure later houses or better-insulating materials could do better, if only people knew how (which will differ for different house styles) and ideally had things like automated vents and shutters (or sash windows).About 4 days before we moved in, we had the air/air heat pump installed in our main living space. It doubles up as an AC unit in summer. For the first four weeks after we moved in, the average daily high here was a smidge under 30c. There was no let up and it doesn't matter what your house is made of, if you want sub 25c temperatures, you need artificial cooling.
Still put up the solar but use the electricity for more necessary things.
It's naive to think that only solar shading can control indoor temps. For a start, very few houses are built in the UK with solar shading in mind. Secondly, if you have solar panels, your energy for a/c is provided for free, with zero emissions. Thirdly, why is it wrong to want to be cool too?
Venting a house at night works to a point, but if you're in a situation where every day is 30c plus and nights are close to 20c, you will exceed 25c indoor temperature on the upper floor every day. It's just maths in the end. We're lucky here, due to the aforementioned a/c and also having a lake to jump in 500m from my front door, but I really used to struggle in the UK in hot spells.
The world's climate is warming. The UK will start to seriously struggle with summer highs as there is little provision in UK house design to minimise excessive heat gain in summer. My brother's fairly newly built Persimmon home routinely exceeds 30c upstairs in summer. Exacerbated no doubt by the density of the development and the associated urban heat island effect.