UK summers are getting noticeably hotter, and air conditioning is becoming more and more essential. With temperatures regularly topping 30°C, and even smashing past 40°C during the heatwaves of recent years, cooling has become more than a luxury: it’s turning into a necessity. Our centuries-old homes, built to retain warmth, often trap heat inside, creating stuffy, uncomfortable conditions.

This discomfort isn’t just inconvenient; it can become dangerous. Extremely high temperatures can impair sleep, reduce productivity, and even lead to heat-related illnesses. Yet, fewer than 5–20% of UK homes have air conditioning, compared to much higher adoption rates across Europe and Asia.

Shifting Policies and Changing Attitudes

Pressure is mounting on policymakers to rethink outdated views of air conditioning as a needless luxury. With climate change underway, public tolerance for discomfort is dwindling. The government is exploring options like subsidies for energy-efficient systems (e.g., heat pumps that provide cooling) to make them more accessible.

Experts argue that cooling technology has the power to preserve economic and health outcomes - whether it’s better sleep, higher productivity, or fewer emergency health incidents during heatwaves.

The Skilled Workforce Gap: Air Conditioning Installation Demand Rises

As cooling becomes more necessary across UK buildings, demand for skilled professionals to install and maintain these systems is skyrocketing:

• The broader heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) sector - especially heat pump specialists - already faces a growing skills shortage.
• The Climate Change Committee and industry experts warn that without a bigger workforce trained in these technologies, the UK risks missing its net-zero goals.
• While we've seen growth in trained professionals (e.g., 3,000 Heat Pump Engineers in 2022, rising to nearly 8,000 in 2023), the UK still needs well over 20,000 more qualified experts by 2028.
• In parallel, as air conditioning becomes more mainstream, installers with experience in dual-purpose systems (cooling + heating) will be in high demand. This creates abundant opportunities in installation, maintenance, and customer education within the cooling market.

The Path Forward

The UK is at an inflexion point: climate change is transforming how we need to live - but infrastructure and mindset haven’t caught up. To adapt, we must combine policy action, technological incentives, and investment in workforce training. Critical steps include:

• Supporting passive cooling (like better ventilation and shading) alongside efficient systems
• Expanding grants and subsidies for air-to-air heat pumps that cool and heat
• Training a larger, qualified workforce ready to handle the new cooling demand
   

Adapt our homes, empower our people, and we’ll be better prepared - not just to survive, but to thrive in a warmer world.

If you are looking to expand your team of HVAC professionals or you are looking for a job in air conditioning, get in touch with our team of HVAC recruitment experts or browse our HVAC jobs on our industries page. 

Sources:

Financial Times

The Guardian

Homebuilding

The Times

acrjournal.uk