A new study by intelligent home climate management company tado° has found that UK homes gain heat significantly faster than European neighbours on hot summer days.
The study, conducted in over 60,000 UK homes in the summer of 2021, found that a UK home with an indoor temperature of 20°C and an outside temperature of 30°C in sunny weather gains on average 5°C after three hours. Compared with some Western European neighbours such as Germany and Italy, UK homes are gaining heat more than twice as fast.
This means that Brits have to suffer even more from uncomfortable temperatures at home during heat waves than their neighbours. Scottish homes were found to be more susceptible to the impact of heat waves than English homes. Southern English homes heat up on average by 4.7°C after three hours, while Scottish home temperatures rise by 5.6°C in the same conditions.
The UK housing stock is the oldest in Europe, which is why British homes struggle to maintain desired temperatures in the cold and heat. Approximately 38% of its homes date from before 1946, compared to 24% for Germany and Sweden.
“Our study shows the degree to how homes react to outdoor temperatures and solar radiation,” says tado° co-founder & CPO Christian Deilmann. “As heat waves become more common, residents will increasingly turn to air conditioning to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures.”
