Air conditioning is a rare luxury worth every penny in a UK heatwave. Americans will regularly scoff at our complaints of an uncomfortable 80°F to an unbearable 90°F but ask any tea-drinking Brit, and they'll gladly tell you how our houses are built to keep the heat in. So, I'll never regret spending £329.99 at Toolstation on a portable air conditioning unit (and £15.99 at Amazon for a window seal) that keeps my home office at a comfortable 17°C (that's 33.8°F,) and neither will you. US residents can still pick up similar units, like the $360.99 SPT Portable at Best Buy if you're without dedicated AC.
The essential extra that really SEALS the deal
These portable air conditioners need somewhere to redirect the hot air from your room, which usually involves a giant, thick ventilation tube hanging out of a nearby window. It's similar to how some older tumble dryers work in the UK, but you'll need a way to maintain your room's cool environment without most of it escaping.
I used my first portable AC, rated for 9,000 BTU, for a few days with a lingering sense of buyer's remorse because it barely cooled the room by a few degrees until I realized what was happening.
Buying a suitable window seal kit at Amazon for around £15.99 allowed me to keep the temperature low by keeping my office door closed and the outside heat at bay. These kits are far from anything fancy; you attach a shaped piece of cloth to your window frame with velcro strips and push the exhaust tubing through an elastic opening. It looks comical to anyone passing by, but I guarantee you won't care if people think you're hanging pillowcases on the window once you feel the cool breeze in your room.
I understand how silly (and eco-unfriendly) it might seem to try to cool a room full of electronics, which kick out a generous amount of heat on their own. However, I also don't have much choice. While I can sit in the darkest, quietest room in my home with a laptop, eventually, I'll need the software suite installed on my desktop PC, which quickly raises the temperature in my home office. These portable AC units aren't silent either; quite the contrary, but a good headset is enough to ignore the noise.
Nevertheless, I can tell you that if you've been mulling over the idea of buying a portable air conditioning unit for your toasty UK home, you will not regret it. I sit here like Mortal Kombat's own Sub Zero as I type this in the comfort of my chilled office, now akin to a walk-in supermarket fridge. Those in the USA might find this whole thing strange and overblown, but the more fragile of us in old Blighty melt at the first sign of sunshine — Brits, buy the air conditioner you wish you had bought last year and keep your office cool during a heatwave.
