I'm currently in a hotel in London and having a pleasant time since there's air con. When getting around the main change to my routine has been to use electric scooters where possible, rather than bikes, because I don't want to be dribbling with sweat. I'm ok. But I don't have to live here, I just have to head to an air conditioned office and various pubs for a few days.
I do not understand the locals that do. Only a few percent have air con.
Yes, this is unseasonably hot. But these temperatures aren't that unusual in Summer down here. And more to the point, they're only going to get worse with climate change.
For me, it's completely unreasonable to live like this without air con.
Why not get it? A portable unit that would cover a room is only a few hundred quid new. Can pick up a second hand for less than two hundred and weirdly I've once been given one for free just wandering along the street in Elstree.
Alternatively, you can do a whole house professionally with whisper quiet ones for less than the cost of a new kitchen.
But still people refrain.
For those who genuinely cannot afford it - well I understand that of course.
But that's not most of London, one of the richest cities in the world.
My best theory, and not to be all "hatey" about landlords particularly since they're getting a raw deal atm with the nonsense that is the RRA is that it's partly the landlords' fault. Many factors have meant that the vast majority of Londoners are renting and always in a somewhat temporary home. Clearly the tenant isn't going to install proper air con. The landlord isn't going to get any return on investment if they install proper air con because few tenants seem to care (but this is a bit circular - why don't they care?). And while the tenant could buy portable air con units (we did when we lived in Watford as tenants) they don't bother because the units are a bit unwieldy and if you're a tenant then it's highly likely you're trying to save as much as possible to save to give you some financial security (whether for a deposit or for a pension).
But it doesn't really matter whose fault it is in a way. It's the defeatism about it. Putting up with disturbed nights of sleep and difficulty in the day and so on with an easy solution is crazy to me.
Southerners - explain yourself! Is it that you don't actually mind this? Not my experience from speaking to people. So I can only conclude some sort of weird amnesia about what these temperatures are like.
