OK, very obvious but.......Air Con for the home!

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Sleep outdoors in a hammock people. AC makes you soft. Unless there's a significant health issue my suggestion is tough it out, the body can and does adapt.

 

Then again I wouldn't win in an argument discussion with my Mrs over the 'next car' not having aircon. But she's the one who gets stuck in the car in a 'frying daily' traffic jam on the motorway.

[MikeTrice]

Fantasia? Or Vent-Axia?

Fantasia: http://www.fantasiaceilingfans.com/

 

Bear in mind it was quite a few years ago and technology has probably moved on a lot. The model we had was combined with the light fitting.

Edited July 26, 2018 by MikeTrice

[Titan]

Fantasia: http://www.fantasiaceilingfans.com/

 

Bear in mind it was quite a few years ago and technology has probably moved on a lot. The model we had was combined with the light fitting.

 

What about when you go trampolining on the bed?

[PatB]

An alternative is a swamp cooler. It's a fan that blows air over water.

Much cheaper and less energy intensive than AC. Look online for 'evaporative cooler'

They're great when it's dry, and very cheap to run compared to refrigerated AC, but not much use in high humidity. My memory of UK hot weather is that it tends towards the sticky.

[Ozexpatriate]

I am not convinced because newer houses are not really that airtight.

It's not the same for the bigger builders* but for the smaller ones such as me we have to have 'Air Pasivity' tests done on each house.

 

This is essentially  fixing a large fan in the front door and expelling air from the house so that it identifies where air is pulled in. This is more to do with energy loss as leaky houses lose heat.

 

* they only test something like 1 in 10 of each design of house.

Building codes vary of course.

 

My home was recently constructed. It is heavily insulated and is very airtight. So much so that I have two bathroom extraction fans that are permanently on (very small airflow).

 

The house was tested at construction by pumping up the pressure to see how quickly it dissipates. The less pressure drop, the higher the energy rating. 

 

Central air conditioning is expensive but I love it.

 

Here we're in a cooling trend right now.

[w124bob]

One things absolutley certain, sods law. The minute you finish the installation and turn it on for the first time the heat wave will finish. So please get on with it!

[Mallard60022]

One things absolutley certain, sods law. The minute you finish the installation and turn it on for the first time the heat wave will finish. So please get on with it!

Ah, wish I could. If i do anything it will be in the Spring of '19; really sorry.

Thunderbolt and lightning, not very frightening just been through 36E. More to come and I don't have to water the allotment this evening. yea.

P

[Mallard60022]

Sleep outdoors in a hammock people. AC makes you soft. Unless there's a significant health issue my suggestion is tough it out, the body can and does adapt.

 

Then again I wouldn't win in an argument discussion with my Mrs over the 'next car' not having aircon. But she's the one who gets stuck in the car in a 'frying daily' traffic jam on the motorway.

I'd use a tent, however I'm getting a bit old for that sort of thing and I was looking to the future when my mobility is even worse. OK for you young whippersnappers.

P

[MikeTrice]

What about when you go trampolining on the bed?

My wife was never that adventurous unfortunately.

I'd use a tent, however I'm getting a bit old for that sort of thing and I was looking to the future when my mobility is even worse. OK for you young whippersnappers.

P

A man after my own heart.

[JJGraphics]

Having listened to quite a lot of the more serious chat about the heatwave we are experiencing and being an old fart that doesn't cope that well  in said weather, does anyone have experience of having Air Con in their dwelling? I am not convinced because newer houses are not really that airtight.

I'm talking a proper job fitted unit not the stupidly expensive portable things that need a codenser pipe outlet .

I'd really appreciate any advice from those of you with such gear or at least someone that has experience of fitting such things.

many thanks,

I.A.M. Melting

 

 

I'm progressing in the direction of being an OF too and I suffer with hay fever and find it difficult to get to sleep when the pollen is at its worst and it is also hot, so the thought of being able to close the windows and still be comfortable was very appealing. Neither of us sleep properly once it gets above about 25ºC at night. Our bedroom faces West and it was often very hot in the Summer. The area where we live seems to suffer from the "Thames Valley Fug" and it is often oppressive as well as hot.

 

We bit the bullet earlier this year and had a system fitted, thankfully before the latest bout of hot weather arrived. I am slightly familiar with air-conditioning as my work was with computers and the studios I looked after mostly had air-conditioning to keep both the computers and the staff happy. We obtained a number quotes, making sure that the equipment specified was exactly the same for each. What was astonishing was that the highest quote was more than 30% higher than the lowest one. What was also surprising was that the firm that gave the lowest quote had the highest rating on Checkatrade and for that reason we used them as much as for them offering the lowest quote. The installation took about five hours with two blokes and the work they did was neat and tidy and they cleaned up after themselves.

 

We went for a "split "system using Daikin equipment, which although not the cheapest, was from experience the most reliable in my clients studios, consisting of a wall-mounted unit in the lounge and another in our bedroom. The two indoor units are connected to the outdoor unit, with all the pipework and cables hidden in a plastic trunking running down the side wall of the house. The evaporator is bolted to the wall just above ground level out of sight at the side of the house. The drainage of the condensate from the units is directed into the rainwater down-pipe which happens to feed the water butt and it has been surprising just how much water has been collected.

 

Either of the indoor units can be operated alone or both together and the temperatures individually controlled. The infrared handsets have timers in them so we set the bedroom unit to come on 15 minutes or so before we normally go to bed and by the time we go up the room is pleasantly cool. We find that we can set it to switch off at around 04:30 and the room is still quite cool when we wake up. The units are so quiet in operation that you can barely hear them even if they are working quite hard and that is only ever for a short while when you first switch them on.

 

In the last few weeks since it has been very hot, we close the windows and draw the curtains and turn both units on, leaving all the interior doors open and the whole house becomes pleasantly cool. From my point of view the real result is that as well as cooling, the indoor units have a very effective filtration system in them which removes the pollen and dust from the air and has made sleeping a treat for the first time for quite a few years. As with most modern systems, the Daikin system is an "inverter" type system that can heat in the Winter – useful as a back-up in case of a central heating failure.

 

One thing to bear in mind is that unless you have a very small system which can be supplied from a ring main, you will need to have a power supply run to the outdoor unit straight from your consumer unit. This supply is terminated in a weather-proof switch adjacent to the outdoor unit. The size of the cable required will depend on the capacity of the system you are having installed. Mine required a 16 amp circuit and this was installed by a licensed electrician who sub-contracts to the air-conditioning supplier. The power for the indoor units is fed from the outdoor unit alongside the pipework and control cables.

 

I completely agree that the portable units are not especially good. As you say, they are fairly noisy, require a hose to eject the hot air, have to have their reservoirs emptied regularly and use a lot more power than a fully installed system. Our system has been using about £2.00-worth of electricity a week in this hot spell, but uses much less in "normal" conditions. 

 

 

John

[Nearholmer]

Even the best AC is a right old energy gobbler, which means expensive to run and environmentally poor, so its very well worth examining all the other options before resorting to it.

 

First step is to find ways to reduce 'solar gain', which is usually greatest at windows, and it is often better to shade them on the outside than the inside. Making sure the walls and roof are well insulated is, counter-intuitively, good too. And, keeping the windows shut when the temperature outside is higher than you want inside, again counter-intuitive. Use fans to help you cool down by evaporating sweat effectively!

 

The challenge for the UK is that most of our buildings simply aren't designed to keep cool naturally, whereas traditional buildings in hot places are: thick walls; barely any windows; exterior shades over the windows; chimney-like airflows designed-in, often flowing the air over pools or fountains on the way in; buildings close-together to create shaded alleyways.

 

People living in ancient moorish townhouses in Spain are probably more comfortable at 40 degrees than our houses keep us at 30 degrees!

[brianusa]

Like a close neighbour, Michael the Oz expat down in Portland, Ore, we have central air.  We too ran into those who said you don't need it here as this area of the PNW has a climate similar to the UK.  But times like this, we do and its been a real benefit and with CC becoming a reality, it will be really useful in the future.  So Phil, be first on the block to have it installed and be ready for the future!

 

Brian.

[Mallard60022]

Even the best AC is a right old energy gobbler, which means expensive to run and environmentally poor, so its very well worth examining all the other options before resorting to it.

 

First step is to find ways to reduce 'solar gain', which is usually greatest at windows, and it is often better to shade them on the outside than the inside. Making sure the walls and roof are well insulated is, counter-intuitively, good too. And, keeping the windows shut when the temperature outside is higher than you want inside, again counter-intuitive. Use fans to help you cool down by evaporating sweat effectively!

 

The challenge for the UK is that most of our buildings simply aren't designed to keep cool naturally, whereas traditional buildings in hot places are: thick walls; barely any windows; exterior shades over the windows; chimney-like airflows designed-in, often flowing the air over pools or fountains on the way in; buildings close-together to create shaded alleyways.

 

People living in ancient moorish townhouses in Spain are probably more comfortable at 40 degrees than our houses keep us at 30 degrees!

Great point. Me getting AC will just contribute to GW/CC and I am already worried about what a lot of older folk have landed our children with.

Food for thought there NH. I have actually considered moving to the north (that is those Islands off the north coast of Scotland) in stupid hot weather, however they have had the same this time as it is the Jet Stream' fault. So that idea is weak as well.

P  

[bike2steam]

I see the harbingers of doom are predicting that summers like this could be the norm with global warming*, or are they politicians with shares in a/c companies ???? But up 'til now such summers like this only come about every couple of decades, is it worth investing for weather that is only hot enough, on average, a couple of weeks per year ?? 

 

* edit, not a bad thing, it'll save me having to go to the Caribbean for a decent holiday. 

Edited July 27, 2018 by bike2steam

[chris p bacon]

It's not the same for the bigger builders* but for the smaller ones such as me we have to have 'Air Pasivity' tests done on each house.

 

This is essentially  fixing a large fan in the front door and expelling air from the house so that it identifies where air is pulled in. This is more to do with energy loss as leaky houses lose heat.

 

* they only test something like 1 in 10 of each design of house.

 

 

Though that's only one side of the issue - well ventilated houses don't get mouldy! 

 

With going too far OT.

 

When the Air Passivity test is carried out all of the vents in the house are closed or taped as they are designed to allow free flow of air for ventilation, It's the holes that shouldn't be there we're looking for.

To overcome this we not only 'Joint' the brickwork on the outside but the inside as well, any electrical conduit is sealed, floor edges are sealed etc.

[Nick C]

With going too far OT.

 

When the Air Passivity test is carried out all of the vents in the house are closed or taped as they are designed to allow free flow of air for ventilation, It's the holes that shouldn't be there we're looking for.

To overcome this we not only 'Joint' the brickwork on the outside but the inside as well, any electrical conduit is sealed, floor edges are sealed etc.

 

Ahh, of course!

 

Do you use things like passive heat exchangers, or are they still too expensive for normal residential use? I've seen then on various YouTube things where people are building 'passivehaus' type buildings, but they generally have a lot more dosh than us mere mortals!

[Arthur]

 

We were just thinking of moving to a more temperate climate, you know, cooler and wetter. Saudi Arabia looks promising.

 

.

[Mallard60022]

With going too far OT.

 

When the Air Passivity test is carried out all of the vents in the house are closed or taped as they are designed to allow free flow of air for ventilation, It's the holes that shouldn't be there we're looking for.

To overcome this we not only 'Joint' the brickwork on the outside but the inside as well, any electrical conduit is sealed, floor edges are sealed etc.[/quote

 

Holes that shouldn't be there........ made me splutter. My house is 18 years old and has holes in very strange places. ]

Edited July 27, 2018 by Mallard60022

[chris p bacon]

Ahh, of course!

 

Do you use things like passive heat exchangers, or are they still too expensive for normal residential use? I've seen then on various YouTube things where people are building 'passivehaus' type buildings, but they generally have a lot more dosh than us mere mortals!

 

 

No I've not tried them. They tend to be spec'd by a client if you're building their 'dream house' as cost can be real a issue.

 A couple of years ago I costed a small property (bungalow) using as many energy saving features as possible and I would have lost approx £15k on the entire project ( actually paying someone to take it off me).

The costs of some of the products needs to come down as they just don't represent value for money or production cost.

[Karhedron]

I see the harbingers of doom are predicting that summers like this could be the norm with global warming*

My crystal ball is having difficulty connecting to the wi-fi at the moment so I cannot give you a definitive answer.

 

What i would say is that the weather patterns we have been experiencing over the last few years are consistent with what climate scientists have said should expected under climate change (not global warming). More heatwaves in northern Europe, more wildfires in unexpected places, more extreme weather events like flooding and snow (Beast from the East anyone?).

 

Climate change is not uniform warming and does not imply we will be getting a more Mediterranean climate here in the UK. What it means is that the weather will become less predictable with extreme events at both ends of the temperature scale becoming more common as well as more floods and droughts.

 

Annoyingly, as Nearholmer points out, AC is very power hungry so in attempting to cool our immediate vicinity, we end up increasing the CO2 emissions that are causing the problem in the first place.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44466214

Edited July 27, 2018 by Karhedron

[chris p bacon]

With going too far OT.

 

When the Air Passivity test is carried out all of the vents in the house are closed or taped as they are designed to allow free flow of air for ventilation, It's the holes that shouldn't be there we're looking for.

To overcome this we not only 'Joint' the brickwork on the outside but the inside as well, any electrical conduit is sealed, floor edges are sealed etc.[/quote

 

Holes that shouldn't be there........ made me splutter. My house is 18 years old and has holes in very strange places. ]

 

We have to think when we're building to seal everything, for example when plumbers used to put a waste pipe through the wall they would just use a core cutter in the brickwork and pop the pipe through. When I do them I use the next size up and put a sleeve through the wall, the sleeve is foamed/siliconed along its length and the waste pipe is packed into the sleeve with silicon sealer, this means as it expands/contracts it keeps a seal to the outside. 

[Horsetan]

….Climate change is not uniform warming and does not imply we will be getting a more Mediterranean climate here in the UK. What it means is that the weather will become less predictable with extreme events at both ends of the temperature scale becoming more common as well as more floods and droughts....

 

^^

This.

 

If it means the likelihood of more snow, I'm all for it. I like snow.

[Nearholmer]

Caves.

 

They keep an even c14 degrees; all year round, you can have your garden above your head; loads of other advantages. I think there are some inhabited ones in Bridgnorth, with good views of the SVR, and I've visited cave houses in southern Spain and in Tunisia, which are comfy in absolutely blazing-hot weather.

 

Or, build t keep cool naturally. I work in the HQ of a well-known national rail infrastructure provider sometimes, and that is properly designed, and keeps 'liveable' even on very hot and very cold days, without AC.

[ejstubbs]

They're great when it's dry, and very cheap to run compared to refrigerated AC, but not much use in high humidity.

 

Which probably explains why I'm more familiar with the term "desert cooler" being used for them.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler#Disadvantages

[bike2steam]

My crystal ball is having difficulty connecting to the wi-fi at the moment so I cannot give you a definitive answer.

 

What i would say is that the weather patterns we have been experiencing over the last few years are consistent with what climate scientists have said should expected under climate change (not global warming). More heatwaves in northern Europe, more wildfires in unexpected places, more extreme weather events like flooding and snow (Beast from the East anyone?).

 

Climate change is not uniform warming and does not imply we will be getting a more Mediterranean climate here in the UK. What it means is that the weather will become less predictable with extreme events at both ends of the temperature scale becoming more common as well as more floods and droughts.

 

Annoyingly, as Nearholmer points out, AC is very power hungry so in attempting to cool our immediate vicinity, we end up increasing the CO2 emissions that are causing the problem in the first place.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44466214

 

Thank you for the correct term, but ya knew what I meant, I just half listened to someone spouting on the box last night ( or was it night before ??) - whatever !!