Home air conditioning in Croydon

Which Croydon homes overheat worst?

The ones with the most sky above them and the least cross-ventilation. In the 2021 Census, 29% of Croydon's 152,946 households lived in purpose-built flats and another 8.5% in houses split into flats, and a top-floor flat takes the sun through its roof all day. Terraces and semis, which between them house 48% of the borough, usually suffer in the back bedroom with the afternoon sun on it, or in a loft conversion. A 2019 study by UCL researchers found a converted loft carries a substantially higher risk of overheating than an ordinary bedroom. Sources: Census 2021; Li, Taylor and Symonds.

How hot does a south London night get?

Hotter than the daytime averages suggest. On the night of 18 July 2022 the Met Office station at Kenley Airfield, inside this borough, never fell below 25.8°C. For a few weeks that stood as the warmest night ever recorded in the UK, until a reading of 26.8°C from Oxfordshire was verified. Government research uses 26°C as the point past which a bedroom is too hot to sleep well, which is why bedrooms are the room people ring us about first. Sources: Met Office; MHCLG research.

Can you sleep next to one?

Yes. The compressor, which makes the noise, is outside. Indoors there is a fan and a coil, and on the lowest speed many units are quieter than a fridge. Ask for the quoted sound level at low fan speed when you compare models. The neighbours are the other half of the question: for the job to count as permitted development, the sound worked out beside their nearest door or window must come out at 37 dB(A) or lower. Source: Grant UK.

What is worth trying before you spend anything?

The free things, if they work for your home. In the UCL loft study, external shutters cut overheating by 96% and ventilating at night by 89%, and night ventilation was the most cost-effective measure of all. The catch is in the word "if". The same government research found more than half of households sometimes feel unable to open their windows, mostly because of security or noise, and on a main road in Croydon that is a real limit. Air conditioning earns its place where those fixes have run out. Sources: Li, Taylor and Symonds; MHCLG research.

What if you rent, or own a leasehold flat?

Someone else has to say yes first. Private renting covered 25.8% of Croydon households in 2021, up from 21.0% ten years earlier, and a tenant needs the landlord's written agreement before a bracket goes on a wall. A leaseholder needs the freeholder's consent, usually in the form of a licence to alter. If the answer is slow or no, a unit with no outdoor box or a portable may be the realistic route. The flats guide walks through each case. Source: ONS.