Air conditioning ownership in UK homes has passed four million, more than double the figure of three years ago, according to research published by the comparison service Uswitch.com on 30 April 2026, a day it said temperatures were predicted to reach 26°C as the bank holiday weekend began1. The same research put desktop fan use at more than nine million households and heat pump ownership, including units that can run in cooling mode, at more than 260,000 homes1.
Uswitch said the number of homes with air conditioning had risen from less than two million in 20221. Its figures, based on Opinium surveys of 4,000 UK residents in December 2025 and 2,000 in 2022, show portable units at 2,163,984 households and built-in units at 1,854,8241.
| Cooling method | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop fan | 3,809,355 | 9,588,000 | 8,369,325 | 9,530,874 |
| Portable air con unit | 1,024,078 | 1,650,831 | 2,004,918 | 2,163,984 |
| Built-in air con unit | 925,980 | 913,344 | 1,692,000 | 1,854,824 |
| Total air con | 1,950,058 | 2,564,175 | 3,696,918 | 4,018,808 |
Source: Uswitch.com1
Uswitch said built-in units carry power ratings up to 2.7kW, more than an electric oven, while portable units use about 1kW1. It calculated that a built-in unit run for an average 9.1 hours a day for a week costs £36.10 on the cheapest fixed rates it tracked and £45.10 on predicted July rates, against £13.37 and £16.70 for a 1kW portable unit or a heat pump in cooling mode1. A 35W desktop fan on the same pattern costs 47p a week now and 58p in July1. Uswitch said households would collectively spend £5 million a week using desktop fans during the first heatwave1.
"The number of households with air conditioning has more than doubled in three years, and more and more homes are taking the plunge to keep cool as UK summers get hotter."
Separate guidance published by Sunsave on 17 August 2026 states that four million UK homes, or 14% of all households, now have portable or built-in air conditioning, and that the average UK home uses around 1,224kWh a year to power an air con unit, costing £320 on the July 2026 energy price cap2. It cites a 2025 study of nearly 700,000 households in 25 countries finding that air conditioning raises household electricity consumption by 36% on average2. Sunsave states that no special equipment is needed to connect an air con unit to solar panels, and that a solar battery allows daytime generation to run cooling after dark2. The two sources agree on the four million figure; Uswitch attributes it to its own survey, Sunsave to a Guardian report1.
Why it matters for households
Cooling is now a measurable load on the home electricity bill rather than an occasional purchase. The gap between a 35W fan and a 2.7kW built-in unit is roughly eightyfold in power terms, and Uswitch's weekly figures show that gap widening when hot spells push daily use past nine hours1. For a household weighing up overheating and hot weather in homes, the choice of cooling method, and how long it runs, moves the annual total more than the unit price does.
Heat pumps already installed for heating can also cool, which means some homes hold cooling capacity without buying a separate appliance1. Sunsave's estimate that panels covering about half of an air con unit's running costs would save the average home around £160 a year is its own modelling, not a measured outcome2. Households on solar panels powering a heat pump face the same timing problem: cooling demand often peaks in the late afternoon and evening, when generation is falling.
What happens next
Uswitch said energy rates look set to rise in July, and that the difference between running a built-in air con unit on the cheapest fixed deals and July's predicted rates is £9 a week1. It also said it is urging households to fix now to avoid the July increase1. No government announcement on cooling, ventilation or overheating standards accompanied the research, and no date has been reported for one.