The politicisation of air con • Frozen treats for animals • Deliveroo pays heat bonuses • Exclusive photo essay • Flash flood sewage spills • Refuse collectors talk maggots • When will it end?
That was a top heat read, Jim - thank you. The pictures were lovely and perhaps, something to think about again in the future. Picture illustrations add so much value to these stories. As you're well aware!
I rocked up to Rules in shorts on Wednesday and, despite being a regular, was politely reminded of their no-shorts policy. Fortunately, I’d come prepared and was directed to the gentlemen’s cloakroom to change.
Full marks to them for maintaining standards at London’s oldest and most celebrated restaurant. I love the place.
Just a note of warning for the rest of you: if you’re planning to enjoy their excellent food and blissful air conditioning in this heat, make sure you wear a collared shirt and long trousers, however tempting the shorts may be. And if you can, arrive 30 minutes early and enjoy a cold drink in the upstairs bar.
Not to glaze them, but the Government just extended the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grants to air-to-air heat pumps, which can cool as well as heat homes - there's a £2500 grant for A2A systems (compared to the £7500 grant for A2W systems, which can only heat)
I've been looking into this... The scheme is now live but it needs to be done by an installer that has jumped through the hoops. As yet no installer has. So it'll only be from the winter that the scheme is REALLY up and running and you can really get a government subsidy to rip our your old boiler and replace it with hot/cold air con units....
2nd tier effects felt by me (in Edinburgh) -my College's 4-events in a day thursday was cancelled with 35 hours notice - venue is medieval and , ergo, no AirCon, so with the prospect of a day to kill in 37(predicted, but then was 31)C London -inventing reasons to be in an airconditioned building -cinemas, New wing of National Gallery....I not only cancelled my day out on friday visiting Hockney exhib and Samuel Johnson's house with my brother & our evening meal out, but attendance at my old school's "Founder's Day" annual celebration of 430+ years of the school and leavers send off etc on Saturday. So London lost out on all my hotel and travel expenditure.
I think that the worst part of this is that I now regard London as an unreliable venue for a national organisation to host an event in the summer: My College ( & other such organisations )should be considering places in the more reliably cooler North- so Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
I am now a lot less likely to attend the rearranged events -whenever and wherever that may be.
My habitual disposition for the last 65 years has been that of an optimist overall.....I am finding this an increasingly unsustainable attitude.
Hopefully Jim and his team can cheer the rest of you up(& possibly me to# :).
Who should be subsidising making London better suited to extreme heat? Well how about the fossil fuel companies, their lobbyists and lawyers, and the useful idiot climate change deniers? They have caused this.
Any forward planning on climate change and overheating city issues is apparently 'non-existent' in the 'Royal' Borough of Greenwich. They don't build in more shade or green spaces; they build more concrete monsters of 30-story plus. Despite the issues affecting the heat trapped within our capital city, with a breeze struggling to get by the constructions. More building means they can boast to the mayor and the central Govt of tackling the ridiculous targets set for house building. It's a misnomer anyway, as it is almost all flats, not houses. The next mass of concrete has started, apparently, with diversions once again away from the Thames Path riverside walking and cycling paths- just when you need the breeze you get from being outdoors along the river! 'Morden Wharf' is within sight of the Unesco WH site of central Greenwich, and again endangers that status as it has with Liverpool. And the long-suffering residents here are sick to the teeth (and physically sick in this heat for many) of the overdevelopment here. It surrounds us, taking no prisoners. Greenwich, Deptford, Lewisham, Woolwich, all now masses of concrete sucking in the heat to blast it back out to us 24/7. And as for the fire risks in this heat, the LFService ladders only reach so high! Meanwhile, the housing shortage remains and even increases. Do they not understand that it's a bit like building more roads, like the M25, to solve traffic congestion? If the demand is there and increasing, you will never solve the problem by building more and higher; you will simply make the life of current residents who have lived here for decades and even lifetimes, unbearable. Congratulations, council leaders. So, how about some shade and green space, please? I thought we had learnt our lessons from the 1960's blocks, many of which have now already bitten the dust, only to be replaced in many prime sites by even higher developments. Do we really want to become another but poorer version of Dubai or NYC? England and its 'green and pleasant land' reputation, both within and outside of cities, are all that remain of retaining London as an appealing and comfortable place to live in. Take it away, and we have little to recommend us. The only ones who will remain are those who cannot afford to move away. The young and wealth generators will be long gone. A bleak prospect?
Absolutely. I was walking in Islington by some 1930s council blocks and it was noticeable how much cooler it was, as there was lawn and trees and they hadn't built right up to the perimeter. They looked nice too!
So what’s the government key argument for prohibiting residential A/C installs? Is it the additional heat it would generate externally? Because many cities around the world seem to have been able to deal with this problem - including NYC which is a much, much, MUCH more densely populated city (and one that simply could not function without A/C)
Yep, from an NYC perspective, it seems crazy that window ac units (the ones that sit on precariously on a bracket outside most older apartment buildings and houses), per flat, aren’t more common in London. Renters usually purchase them themselves and disconnect their unit and take it when they move. They range from inexpensive (but noisy) to pricey and quiet.
But I’m not sure how that would work in London with restrictions on older buildings, historic neighbourhoods, listed properties, etc — but it’d certainly cool people off 🧊
I looked into this a few years ago -- our windows don't tend to slide up and down like in the US. Do you think it would still work on a 'pivoting outwards' window configuration?
Ah, I think they’re too heavy to hang on a window pane that opens (if that’s what you meant) but you could install a unit if you remove some glass or partially block a window… Not ideal but again, maybe worth it to keep cool! 🧊
When I’ve looked at window ac units for sale in the US vs the UK, there’s far more choice/ sizes etc. Wow, I’m clearly an ac nerd.
Amazing photos in this article!
I asked Jenny to do heat photos that weren't stereotypical and she delivered.
For sure! The article is amazing too, of course :)))
If you can read in this heat you’re doing well.
Can we all agree to take climate change seriously and hold the government and big businesses (and ourselves to an extent) to account?
And of course the more air-conditioning is added, the worse the heat island effect. The solution drives the problem.
That was a top heat read, Jim - thank you. The pictures were lovely and perhaps, something to think about again in the future. Picture illustrations add so much value to these stories. As you're well aware!
I rocked up to Rules in shorts on Wednesday and, despite being a regular, was politely reminded of their no-shorts policy. Fortunately, I’d come prepared and was directed to the gentlemen’s cloakroom to change.
Full marks to them for maintaining standards at London’s oldest and most celebrated restaurant. I love the place.
Just a note of warning for the rest of you: if you’re planning to enjoy their excellent food and blissful air conditioning in this heat, make sure you wear a collared shirt and long trousers, however tempting the shorts may be. And if you can, arrive 30 minutes early and enjoy a cold drink in the upstairs bar.
Really great photos here. Especially as it’s so difficult to get an original take on London Heat.
Not to glaze them, but the Government just extended the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grants to air-to-air heat pumps, which can cool as well as heat homes - there's a £2500 grant for A2A systems (compared to the £7500 grant for A2W systems, which can only heat)
I've been looking into this... The scheme is now live but it needs to be done by an installer that has jumped through the hoops. As yet no installer has. So it'll only be from the winter that the scheme is REALLY up and running and you can really get a government subsidy to rip our your old boiler and replace it with hot/cold air con units....
Interesting! Fingers crossed for next year then lol
2nd tier effects felt by me (in Edinburgh) -my College's 4-events in a day thursday was cancelled with 35 hours notice - venue is medieval and , ergo, no AirCon, so with the prospect of a day to kill in 37(predicted, but then was 31)C London -inventing reasons to be in an airconditioned building -cinemas, New wing of National Gallery....I not only cancelled my day out on friday visiting Hockney exhib and Samuel Johnson's house with my brother & our evening meal out, but attendance at my old school's "Founder's Day" annual celebration of 430+ years of the school and leavers send off etc on Saturday. So London lost out on all my hotel and travel expenditure.
I think that the worst part of this is that I now regard London as an unreliable venue for a national organisation to host an event in the summer: My College ( & other such organisations )should be considering places in the more reliably cooler North- so Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
I am now a lot less likely to attend the rearranged events -whenever and wherever that may be.
My habitual disposition for the last 65 years has been that of an optimist overall.....I am finding this an increasingly unsustainable attitude.
Hopefully Jim and his team can cheer the rest of you up(& possibly me to# :).
Great work with the summer-themed photos.
Who should be subsidising making London better suited to extreme heat? Well how about the fossil fuel companies, their lobbyists and lawyers, and the useful idiot climate change deniers? They have caused this.
Any forward planning on climate change and overheating city issues is apparently 'non-existent' in the 'Royal' Borough of Greenwich. They don't build in more shade or green spaces; they build more concrete monsters of 30-story plus. Despite the issues affecting the heat trapped within our capital city, with a breeze struggling to get by the constructions. More building means they can boast to the mayor and the central Govt of tackling the ridiculous targets set for house building. It's a misnomer anyway, as it is almost all flats, not houses. The next mass of concrete has started, apparently, with diversions once again away from the Thames Path riverside walking and cycling paths- just when you need the breeze you get from being outdoors along the river! 'Morden Wharf' is within sight of the Unesco WH site of central Greenwich, and again endangers that status as it has with Liverpool. And the long-suffering residents here are sick to the teeth (and physically sick in this heat for many) of the overdevelopment here. It surrounds us, taking no prisoners. Greenwich, Deptford, Lewisham, Woolwich, all now masses of concrete sucking in the heat to blast it back out to us 24/7. And as for the fire risks in this heat, the LFService ladders only reach so high! Meanwhile, the housing shortage remains and even increases. Do they not understand that it's a bit like building more roads, like the M25, to solve traffic congestion? If the demand is there and increasing, you will never solve the problem by building more and higher; you will simply make the life of current residents who have lived here for decades and even lifetimes, unbearable. Congratulations, council leaders. So, how about some shade and green space, please? I thought we had learnt our lessons from the 1960's blocks, many of which have now already bitten the dust, only to be replaced in many prime sites by even higher developments. Do we really want to become another but poorer version of Dubai or NYC? England and its 'green and pleasant land' reputation, both within and outside of cities, are all that remain of retaining London as an appealing and comfortable place to live in. Take it away, and we have little to recommend us. The only ones who will remain are those who cannot afford to move away. The young and wealth generators will be long gone. A bleak prospect?
Absolutely. I was walking in Islington by some 1930s council blocks and it was noticeable how much cooler it was, as there was lawn and trees and they hadn't built right up to the perimeter. They looked nice too!
Gorgeous photos. My Shark rechargeable fan is pretty good and not as obstructive as an aircon unit.
So what’s the government key argument for prohibiting residential A/C installs? Is it the additional heat it would generate externally? Because many cities around the world seem to have been able to deal with this problem - including NYC which is a much, much, MUCH more densely populated city (and one that simply could not function without A/C)
Residential A/C install isn't banned
Sorry, used the wrong word - not prohibited but discouraged. “City Hall guidance strongly discourages its use in new residential buildings”
Worth noting though that installing a split system requires council authorization which as I understand is often difficult to obtain.
Totally -- as with most things in this country it seems that the local authorities aren't using their brains
Yep, from an NYC perspective, it seems crazy that window ac units (the ones that sit on precariously on a bracket outside most older apartment buildings and houses), per flat, aren’t more common in London. Renters usually purchase them themselves and disconnect their unit and take it when they move. They range from inexpensive (but noisy) to pricey and quiet.
But I’m not sure how that would work in London with restrictions on older buildings, historic neighbourhoods, listed properties, etc — but it’d certainly cool people off 🧊
I looked into this a few years ago -- our windows don't tend to slide up and down like in the US. Do you think it would still work on a 'pivoting outwards' window configuration?
Ah, I think they’re too heavy to hang on a window pane that opens (if that’s what you meant) but you could install a unit if you remove some glass or partially block a window… Not ideal but again, maybe worth it to keep cool! 🧊
When I’ve looked at window ac units for sale in the US vs the UK, there’s far more choice/ sizes etc. Wow, I’m clearly an ac nerd.
Something off about the Gilesmead estate hot water. 80C for hot water is dangerous. I struggle to believe a risk averse London council would do that.
H&F also changed collection times (but somehow only announced on Instagram?) https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ45xYSDOBi/