Fans vs air conditioning units: Which is best for cooling your home during a heatwave?

As the old adage goes: “It’s getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes.” During the UK’s solar bombardment, it’s not bad advice for those millions who have found themselves and their homes utterly unprepared for the seemingly endless, epic heat.

But will stripping down keep you cool for the foreseeable? No, a greater plan of action is required to achieve chill in all rooms of the house, which is why Evening Standard has drafted me in with a few well-placed tips and tech; surviving this latest in an increasingly long line of heatwaves in comfort will be child’s play.

From neck fans to wear while cooking up a storm in the kitchen to air con units that provide sweet chilled relief in front of the TV, consider this your cheat sheet to beating the heat – room to room in your home.

Generally, the room we inhabit the most during waking hours, keeping the air inside our living room unlike that inside an active air fryer, is vital. Now, there’s an excellent article on portable air conditioners here. Still, unfortunately, the unprecedented weather has meant equally unprecedented sales, leading to most manufacturers/suppliers running out of stock with no real knowledge of when any units will be back in supply.

However, at the time of writing, you can still pick up the Dreo Smart 3-in-1 12000 BTU for £600 on Amazon, but you’ll clearly need to be quick.

Failing that, it’s time to resort to strategic thermal ventilation, by which I mean keeping windows closed and curtains/blinds drawn during peak sunlight hours to stop heat getting in. If you haven’t got curtains or blinds, using cardboard to block the windows works the same way. Then, presuming the outside temperature does drop in the evening, pop your windows open and use a fan – like this affordable Meaco air cooler – to drive the hot air inside out.

Read more: This fan is portable, powerful and rivals Dyson

Now, although portable air con units have become hen’s teeth-esque in their availability, other more mechanical options are available. This includes air coolers, which create a cooling breeze by blowing evaporated water around the room. Costing considerably less than most portable aircons, air coolers are also much easier to get hold of from places such as B&Q (£23.99, Diy.com), Argos (£85, Argos.co.uk), and Amazon (£95, Amazon.co.uk), though do check on what the delivery time is before parting with your cash.

But – and it’s a fairly sized but – by adding said evaporated water to the air, air coolers are adding moisture, which leads to humidity, so are only really effective in dry climates, and whilst the UK right now may feel like it classifies as a dry climate, if you’re suffering with wet-heat already, perhaps avoid this avenue.

Finally, for this area of your abode, although dehumidifiers don’t literally lower the actual temperature, they do remove moisture from the air, which brings down the “apparent” temperature – and serves to make the air feel lighter and cooler. AO.com have Meaco’s low-energy dehumidifier in stock (£246, Ao.com), or pick up this Logik model at Currys (£149, Currys.co.uk), which is designed for large rooms.

Traditionally, if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. But if you must spend any prolonged amount of time in there, it's once again key to block out direct sunlight to keep heat ingress to a bare minimum; otherwise it’s going to get and stay toastie.

If you absolutely must go all Master Chef, then stick with lower-heat generators like air fryers, keep cooking to the cooler hours, and if you have an extractor fan, run it, as they remove hot air as well as steam.

Portable appliance-wise, as we know, if you haven’t already got an aircon unit, you’re not getting one any time soon, and (as we know) the downside of using an air cooler in the kitchen is that, while it can be refreshing at first, it adds humidity to the air, so it’ll soon start getting sticky and sultry in the worst possible way. So, may I suggest investing in a neck fan?

Highly affordable and widely available – as long as you’re not intent on prepping and cooking a Sunday roast for the family – a neck fan can be enormously effective for short bursts in hot places, plus options such as the Status (£12.99, Robertdyas.co.uk) can be picked up for as little as £13, so hardly going to break the bank.

That said, at the other end of the price spectrum, £199 will get you a personal aircon system in the shape of the REON Pocket Pro Plus from Sony (£199, Sony.co.uk) and in the stakes of staying cool, from my own personal experience, it’s a chill-bringing game-changer.

Now we come to the bedroom – without wishing to sound like a stuck record, again it’s imperative in here to keep the heat out, so keep curtains and windows closed during the hottest part of the day. Pop ’em open again as the cooler evening comes in and use an electric fan – like this affordable Dunelm option (£48, Dunelm.com) – to blast the hot air out, the act of which will also draw cool air in, so a win-win.

Once you’ve got that sweet, sweet cool air inside, use the fan to keep it circulating. Importantly, if you weren’t already, pay attention: it is advised not to use fans in temperatures exceeding 35°C, as it has been forecast to reach in areas of London and the Southeast this weekend, so if that Hades-afresh area includes you, forget the fan, as it’ll only serve to drive your skin temperature up.

The bathroom is arguably your greatest ally in the fight against bursting into flames – especially the shower, or more specifically, the deliciously cold shower. But never freezing cold, as this can cause constriction of the blood vessels and trapped core heat. It could also trigger Cold Shock Response, so the experts here recommend keeping water running at around 10°C to 15°C and limiting sessions to 1-2 minutes.

No shower? Not to worry, a cool bath will serve just as well, but stick to the same guidelines on temperature.

As to keeping the bathroom itself cool, the same rules apply with windows and blinds as before. Also, if you’re lucky enough to have an extractor fan in your bathroom, make sure it’s running to help reduce humidity by venting hot air and moisture while drawing in cool, fresh air.

In conclusion, keeping your home cool involves opening windows and curtains, employing electric fans in all their varying forms – and simply not inviting any more heat into your home where possible.

Read more: Best ice makers 2026, tried and tested for keeping cool in a heatwave

On a final point, even though I’ve gone through this room by room, once the air is cool enough to do so, be certain to open the windows all over your house to allow air to flow freely through. Oh, and do make sure you’ve got plenty of ice in – Cook’s Professional’s ice maker comes expert-recommended (£129, Amazon.co.uk). It is BBQ season after all, and with Wimbledon and the World Cup still on, it’s vital to stay hydrated in any form and flavour you please; mine’s a G&T, please. Stay cool!

Keep cool and carry on: How to heatwave-proof your house without air conditioning