Why AC Demand in the UK Is Exploding - and the Engineering Problems It’s Creating
Air-conditioning in the UK has shifted from a luxury to a necessity almost overnight. Summers are getting hotter, buildings are getting warmer inside, and both commercial and residential occupants now expect controlled, comfortable environments rather than “open a window and hope for the best.” The country was never designed with cooling in mind, yet the way people use buildings today makes AC unavoidable.
The commercial sector is driving a lot of this growth. Offices, retail units, restaurants, gyms and converted spaces are overheating regardless of external temperature. Modern workspaces rely on heavy IT loads, large glazed areas, higher occupancy, and far more insulation than before. All of this traps heat and makes cooling essential. Once a workplace overheats, productivity drops, customers leave faster, and staff start complaining. For landlords and tenants, AC is no longer a nice-to-have - it’s expected.
The problem is that rising demand is colliding with buildings that are fundamentally not built for cooling. Most UK commercial spaces were designed around heating, not fresh air and heat removal. When you introduce AC into these environments, engineers have to fight against pipe restrictions, poor airflow paths, limited outdoor-unit locations, noise constraints, electrical capacity issues and planning rules. None of these were ever considered when some buildings were originally constructed.
This pressure leads to rushed installations and rushed installations lead to underperforming systems. Many AC systems are fitted with minimal surveying or design. Capacity might look fine “on paper,” but if zoning, air distribution and control strategy aren’t designed properly, the system will never run well.
This is where the most common performance failures start to appear:
Buildings divided into the wrong zones, so hot areas never get enough cooling.
Thermostats placed in the wrong locations, making the system think the building is cooler or warmer than it is.
Ductwork or pipework sized incorrectly, so the unit cannot deliver the cooling it’s designed for.
Outdoor units forced into poor positions, limiting airflow, raising noise issues and reducing efficiency.
These issues aren’t caused by bad equipment — they’re caused by design shortcuts under intense demand.
The surge also coincides with a shift toward lower-GWP refrigerants and stricter F-Gas rules. That puts even more pressure on installers to get pipe sizing right, manage refrigerant quantities correctly, document leak checks and keep proper records. Many clients still don’t realise they carry legal responsibility for this documentation. As more systems are installed, compliance mistakes increase and the cost always lands back on the building operator.
Maintenance is becoming its own challenge. Installing AC is the easy part. Keeping it reliable in a high-demand, high-usage environment is harder. A lot of systems are breaking down early because of poor commissioning, neglected servicing and oversized or undersized installations. The UK now has far more AC in service than ever before, but the maintenance culture hasn’t caught up. Businesses learn very quickly that “having AC” and “having AC that runs properly all year” are two completely different things.
The outcome is simple: the UK is in the middle of a cooling boom, but the infrastructure wasn’t built to support it. As demand continues to rise, the companies and building owners who get the best results will be the ones who treat AC as a full engineering process — not a bolt-on appliance. Proper surveying, proper zoning, accurate load calculations, correct refrigerant handling and consistent maintenance are now essential. Anything less results in systems that technically “work” but fail to deliver comfort, efficiency or reliability.
If you’d like help designing, repairing or maintaining your AC system properly, you can contact us directly on our contact us page. We handle everything from surveys to installation and long-term maintenance.