Hi

I shall copy your post to our General Holiday Enquiries forum so that it should attract a wider audience. You should subscribe to the topic in that forum also to receive notification for replies.

luci

You will definitely need Airconditioning. You might be luckly and "get away" with a few fans. But, you will need something to reduce temperatures especially for the children.

I wouldn't go to as hot country in August without aircon. I don't need it to be very cool as that isn't good for you but I do like it to take the worst of the heat away especially at night. I think many villa owners don't put it in due to the expense of running it so it is well worth a bit extra to get one with it.

well all i can say is personal choice, we have been to Cyprus in July [40 deg by 10AM] and Turkey in July [0ver 45 deg] as well as summer in Greece/Portugal&Spain and never paid for Air-conditioning as it is an extremely unhealthy thing to use, we just use natural ventilation

I am sure you are right about it being unhealthy and my husband will not have it on during the night. I cool the room down first and then put a fan by my bed. I don't have it so that I feel cold though. I really like it on for a while while getting ready to go out in the evening. I think I would be better going away just during June or September as I can manage without it then but August can be difficult. I am reluctant to open windows if there is no mesh as I am troubled by mossies. So I suppose ideally I need mesh at windows, fans and then aircon if I get desperate lol.

I wouldnt like to comment on how bad the heat might be in August, but have stayed in a villa during June when the temps reached the late 30s early 40s for a week. We managed fine without air conditioning just using stand alone fans. Admittedly, it was a bit stifling during the night (had to close all the windows) but during the day, as long as the doors and windows were open, it stayed pretty cool indoors. To be honest, it was nice to be inside during the hottest part of the day.

I dont think it would be a necessity for me during the day, but I think its nice to have it for evenings before bedtime.

Hi Dandog

I did reply to this question as I stayed in a Villa in Minorca at a similar time as you are going last summer, but reply isn't here I must be going mad.

We only had aircon in the 4 bedrooms & were fine infact could probably have managed without. Aircon gives me a sore throat but I do think its easier to sleep in July/Aug with it. We weren't fussed in the lounge, kitchen etc and coped fine without. Same in mainland Spain the previous year.

Villas are different from apartments or when you are in a hotel room. They are often bulit to take account of the fact that you are in a Country that is very hot in summer, so have small windows, thick walls, really heavy duty blinds etc all designed to keep the place cool.

It's a personal decison of course. Years ago we stayed in an apartment in Minorca when our kids were young all we had was a ceiling fan in our bedroom, which we did appreciate, but in the lounge bit where the sleeper sofas were there was nothing and our kids slept fine. I think they are so exhausted from, pool, sea & being up late and as they are out of their routine they just slept regardless.

doepsmc, you're not going mad. I copied this topic from Menorca to here and you answered in the one in the Menorca forum.

luci

Phew Thanks Lucy, thought I was losing it.

Doe

If I'm in a hotel and it's there I will use it. Been in villas many times with no aircon, and never felt it necessary.

We had air conditioning in our villa in Turkey in august and it was so nice to be able to come home and feel cool, it also meant we could sleep at night better and get ready to go out in the evening without melting.

I think it depends on when you are going and how hot it will be, also whether you feel it is needed or not. My parents never have air conditioning, they are happy to be hot.

I am interested as to why people say it is unhealthy. Is it because of the air or the temperature? If it is fitted properly it should only be bringing in fresh air and chilling it to a certain temperature.

I am interested as to why people say it is unhealthy. Is it because of the air or the temperature? If it is fitted properly it should only be bringing in fresh air and chilling it to a certain temperature.

Most airconditioning systems also act as dehumidifiers too which raises two issues - it can increase the chances of becoming dehydrated and also can dry out tissues in the body that should remain moist. This is why some people get 'air-c o n' cough, if they are mouth breathers and sleep with the air- c o n on then the tissues in the mouth and the back of the throat dry out. And if the nasal passges dry out then this increases your rick from infections and bugs too.

The other reason is that the water extracted from the air has to go somewhere and inefficient systems or if they are not properly maintained can end up with water building up in the unit and this becomes and ideal breeding ground for bacteria - in the great majority of cases of Legionnaires disease the source of the outbreak can be traced back to the air-c o n system. It's only a couple of years ago that an outbreak in the north of England which didn't follow the usual pattern (ie everybody had stayed /worked in the same place) was found to have been caused by the overflow and where the hot air was expelled from an infected airconditioning system that they had all walked past in the street!

The situation in hotels and apartment systems can be even worse because they tend to have centralised systems were it isn't fresh air that is being brought in but it is simply chilling and dehumidifying the air and then re-circulating it just like on planes. Also, such systems usually have large tanks of water used as part of the cooling process and these again become breeding grounds for all sorts of nasty things. Having worked in a building where the centralised system was shut down every 6th weekend so it could be completely drained and thoroughly disinfected I've been reluctant to ever use the air-conditioning in a large hotel because I bet in their busy summer season they don't shut down their systems for 24 hrs that regularly to ensure that it is clean and safe.

So I avoid using air-c o n as much as possible and rely instead on using fans which keep the air circulating over my skin and hence. not to put too fine a point on it, continually evaporates the sweat and thus uses the bodies own natural cooling system.

SM

Thanks for that, it all does sound rather unhealthy! I do find my eyes get dry sometimes with A/C, now I know why!