Hot? Sadly it seems Ed doesn’t like air-con and Whitehall has conspired against you

You have Net Zero chance of keeping cool with a green pump system with air-con, at low cost

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2026

Facts4EU asks if this is what happens when you put an extreme ideologue in charge of Britain’s energy

While the rest of us are longing to live in countries like the US, where approximately 90% of the homes are fitted with air-conditioning, the Dept for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) would prefer we open the windows. It seems the DESNZ Secretary of State Ed Miliband doesn’t like air-con very much.

Many of us would accept our neighbour France’s proportion of households with air-con which was at 24% last year and growing fast. This sounds more favourable than the best estimate for the UK, at around 5%. A good number of the 95% of people without air-con in the UK are now asking why they don’t have it.

Hot under the collar about air-con

Readers will be aware of recent media stories about air-con units being ripped out of people’s homes by local councils. At the same time, the taxpayer is investing tens of billions of pounds, subsidising the ‘renewable energy’ industry.

The DESNZ were apparently very reluctant to surrender any of their £190 billion per annum Net Zero funding (2025) to the new Defence Investment Plan. With heat pumps now available which include air-conditioning as part of the system, at much lower prices than conventional models, Facts4EU in association with The Campaign for an Independent Britain and Stand for Our Sovereignty decided to investigate. We have shared the results with GB News and we recommend reading their version of the report here

Lord (John) Redwood, former Secretary of State
commented exclusively to GB News and Facts4EU

“Ed Miliband is the worst kind of net zero Puritan killjoy.
“He wants to ban you from buying a new petrol car and to make it more and more difficult to enjoy the freedoms of owning and using any personal transport. He wants to cut your enjoyment of meat and dairy products and make you buy a heating system that is much dearer than your gas boiler and far less effective in cold weather.
“Now we are having some hot days he makes clear he wants to stop people acquiring air conditioning. Open the windows and swelter in the hot air is the government advice.
“Facts4EU are right to highlight his policy of misery for the many in the heat. Why do we have to watch as other advanced countries relax at home in the cool whilst we toss and turn at night in hot bedrooms?”

Yes, environmentally friendly air-con is available in the UK

Environmentally friendly air-con has been available in the UK for years. It comes as part of a heat pump, which also provides heating and can include hot water, and is energy neutral in most circumstances. If it had received the same subsidies as heat pumps without air-con, economies of scale mean it would doubtless be even cheaper than it already is. As things stand, it still costs significantly less than the heat pumps the DESNZ prefers.

In short, an ‘air-to-air’ system heats and cools a house using air, unlike the more conventional ‘air-to-water’ systems. It is this fundamental difference that allows air-con to be provided as part of the installation. Five areas of a house can be heated or cooled separately from one outside intake unit.

The grant of taxpayer money that Ed will give you

Despite the ‘climate emergency’, it was only late last year that the DESNZ, under the control of Ed Miliband, announced heat pumps with air-con would become eligible for state subsidies in the UK. The grant for ‘air-to-air’ heat pumps was set at £2,500, one-third of the value of the £7,500 available for the ‘air-to-water’ variety (no air-con) or even £9,500 if replacing a heating oil or LNG system.

If it comes with air-con, your grant is cut by two-thirds

There is a further catch with Ed’s new grant, however

In essence, Mr Miliband’s DESNZ is now finally offering a reduced £2,500 grant, but at the same time they have significantly increased the certification standards required for these systems, meaning many installers are currently not eligible.

“On 1 April, a Statutory Instrument was laid to amend the BUS [Boiler Upgrade Scheme] regulations, which will come into force on 28 April.”
- DESNZ, 24 Apr 2026

However, they went on to say:

“Please note that all installers participating in the BUS must be Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certified and accredited to install the relevant technology. However, MCS certification is not yet available for AAHP [Air-to-Air Heat Pump – Ed.] systems.”

The shocking proof of how the DESNZ has given NO GRANTS AT ALL to systems with air-con

Facts4EU has done a deep-dive into the DESNZ’s own files to provide readers with the shocking truth of how many applications have been received and how many grants have been made for ‘air-to-air’ systems which include air-conditioning. These figures run from the commencement of the grant system in May 2022 and show the official numbers.

1. Number of applications for grants received

2. Number of grants paid out

Have air-con systems been put on ice by Whitehall’s Net Zero zealots?

With everyone sweltering in the heat this summer, (much as we did in 1976 well before ‘global warming’, some will recall), the two charts above show how systems with air-con have been sidelined since commencement of the government’s subsidies.

With the obstacles put in the way because of....

New certification requirements for installers
The delays in allowing any grants at all, and
The fact that any grant would in any case be one-third of the amount for a system without air-con

....questions must be asked about the ideological motivation behind the decisions by the government’s Energy Security and Net Zero Dept.

The DESNZ insists all possibilities (such as opening windows) be explored before permission can be granted. If you live in London, officialdom's views are starker.

Mayor Sadiq Khan’s ‘Plan for London’ specifically states that “The increased use of air conditioning systems is not desirable”.

London Mayor Khan

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Lord Redwood, former Secretary of State
with his final, exclusive comments to GB News and Facts4EU

“The government says it wants to go for growth and spread prosperity more widely. To do that it needs to get behind people and companies who want to improve the lives of the many by making the luxuries of the few affordable to far more of us.
“Air conditioning is available for most in the US and is catching on fast in some European countries. In the UK just 5% have it. The UK government tries to stop the rest of us keeping cool at home with its net zero anti-growth opposition to affordable air conditioning. I say let the market compete and provide.

“Air conditioning is a luxury that should become the norm, as central heating did after World War II. This government wants to keep the best things for the few ultra-rich that remain in the UK after their tax attacks. It also wants us to rely on imports to keep our carbon count down.
“They see not making air conditioners in the UK for the home market as another way to make the UK a leader in carbon reduction! They should see it is another way of denying us growth and jobs. They are deliberately blocking us from aspiring to US living standards and comforts.”

How Ed’s BUS [Boiler Upgrade Scheme] is doing overall

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) is the UK government’s flagship subsidy scheme and forms part of its ‘Warm Homes Plan’, with a target of achieving 450,000 installations a year by 2030.

They are not even close to getting to their target.

With air-con hard to get, DESNZ will miss its targets by a long way

Observations

You and air-con – the latest facts

Facts4EU has 10 years’ experience, seven-days-a-week, researching very different topics and finding the official facts. On air-con, however, up-to-date official facts are impossible to find. Even the International Energy Authority (IEA) last published on this subject in 2018 and even then they only cited a handful of countries. The EU Commission similarly has limited information, which is based on a few EU countries whose official bodies have published figures on the topic.

This is important because whatever policy the DESNZ is pursuing on air-conditioning, it seems to be based on only a few facts. Perhaps this is why the DESNZ default position is that builders and homeowners must have exhausted all other possibilities such as opening windows or closing blinds, before any approval can be given for air-con to be installed.

In addition, as stated above, new certification standards have been imposed for air-to-air systems, meaning most installers are ineligible as of now.

Perhaps Mr Miliband wants us all to experience more ‘global warming’,
to justify all his other Net Zero excesses…

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[ Sources: DESNZ | NESTA | IEA | OWID | Greater London Authority ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thurs 09 July 2026

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Reader Comments 9

1. Old Albion , Thursday, July 09, 2026, 06:42:

Ed Miliband is clearly mentally deranged. Isn't it time he was taken away for therapy?

2. NH , Thursday, July 09, 2026, 10:36:

Ed does not make any sense. He claimed he was going to solve global warming 18 years ago when he introduced the Climate Change Act. The fact that a large number of people now want air conditioning and building regulations have had to be changed to discourage air conditioning means he has failed.
.
One energy reduction policy that has worked for Labour is housebuilding. We now have the lowest number of homes being built since the pandemic. We have many corporations that would like to be building more homes but it takes a large amount of energy to build homes. The result is the cost of building houses has increased far above inflation and many people can not afford them. The result is we are not using energy to building new house and the people that would have been buying these houses will be living in bedsits or on the street so they will not need much heating or cooling.
.
For Sadiq Khan it's even worse. His policy changes have resulted in housebuilding in London collapsing to the lowest level since the 2nd world war.

3. NH , Thursday, July 09, 2026, 13:30:

It sems that not enough people are listening to Ed because Nat Grid (NESO) has just issued a low energy warning, It's very rare for these to be issued in the Summer, it's only happened 3 times and all of them have been this summer. Unfortunately Ed has not ordered enough wind. Despite the huge investment wind is presently providing 7% of our energy needs. We are surviving because of solar energy but unfortunately it does not work at night.
.
The European interconnectors are unable to help because there is currently a heat dome over most of Europe which is producing similar problems The only solution is to ask the gas and nuclear generators to up their power output.

4. KB , Thursday, July 09, 2026, 15:00:

NH do you have any links for the recent house building figures ?

5. KB , Thursday, July 09, 2026, 15:10:

We could save a lot of emissions in this country by ensuring we have the right kind of air conditioners on the market (BTW good luck finding an aircon bargain at present).
The portable units that are widely sold blow warm air out the window but that means air has to be sucked in from outside to make up the volume. Very inefficient.
So-called Dual Hose units are available in the US and other countries, which don't have this problem.
Also, there are portable models of split units (the most efficient types) but they are difficult to find.
Permanently installed split units (with an outside unit, the most efficient design) apparently require planning permission, and are not allowed on blocks of flats and apartments.
In other words, we in the UK are making it difficult to use the most efficient designs of aircon units, particular the portable kind. This is increasing our emissions and wasting power in hot weather.

6. Mr Sceptic , Thursday, July 09, 2026, 16:59:

We don’t need airco in the UK as global warming is a Chinese hoax … according to Facts4EU and its followers.

7. Ashley Great Britain , Friday, July 10, 2026, 06:24:

I'm a bit confused.
Air-to-air pump is surely just a new name for an air conditioning unit. Whether it's a mobile all in one unit with vent pipe or a split system with external compressor. The principle is the same for both units, they have a variable-speed DC inverter compressor, an outdoor condenser, an indoor evaporator, and a reversing valve to switch between heating and cooling modes. This technology has been around for decades and is the gold standard for cooling. They still use refrigerant gas and require quite a lot of energy to drive the compressor. They don't extract heat or cold from the outdoor atmosphere as often portrayed, they just create cooling or heating using the gas, compressor and fans and have a valve to reverse the process for indoor cooling or heating. Both modes use about the same energy and on average units that's around 400-500 watts of constant draw. Where's the great cheap low energy solution? It doesn't exist.

8. Gazzablack , Friday, July 10, 2026, 07:17:

6, septic
.
We're still waiting for a sensible post from the septic plank

9. Gazzablack , Friday, July 10, 2026, 21:10:

Another bad start to the day for British 'wind power'.
Just 4% of our electricity. 0.8% of our total energy needs
It's now 25 hours since it made even 10% of our electricity.
.
The first law of wind power.
That any sailor knows only too well. But wind fans try to pretend doesn't exist.
When there's no wind, there's no wind power.
.
We currently pay £1.5 billion a year to switch wind farms off when it's too windy.
Rachel Fletcher from Octopus energy has just told Parliament that could soar to £10 billion by 2030.
Ed Miliband is writing cheques for wind farm developers before the grid can move their energy to where it's needed.
That's a political choice.
.
Meanwhile
Garbage thinking EU to charge trash incinerators for CO2 emissions, increasing their annual costs by $4.3 billion.
They have no control over the input that is entering their facilities and have to treat the waste regardless of it's CO2 emissions potential.

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