You probably do! - at least somewhere in your daily life. A lot of people do not really understand what air conditioning is. Some areas of the media give it a bad press; unfortunately they don't really know much either, except what will make a good story!

Air conditioning has been around in the UK for many years and you would be surprised at the number of successful businesses and individuals who use it. Air conditioning, if it is working well is something that you cannot see, hear, and if you're lucky, you cannot feel either!

The whole idea is that you are comfortable, you don't need to be aware of anything else, do you?

Why do I need air conditioning? Well chances are, you work, rest, or play in a building that has people, lights, windows, electric or electronic equipment, and many other forms of heat. All of these give off heat to the air, except windows, which allow heat from the sun on both sunny or cloudy days, to pass through the glass and heat up your environment.

In the middle of summer, if you open a window, the chances are you are going to let in more humid, hot air, noise and fumes. You cannot get rid of this heat with ventilation or fans, all you do is create a gale, blow papers around or introduce more of that hot, humid air. OK, you feel cool when a fan blows air on you - everyone has a thin layer of moisture on his or her skin. Blowing air over the skin evaporates the moisture, which has a cooling effect - it is called evaporative cooling. But it will not reduce the temperature or humidity to a comfortable level.

Many new cars now have the option of air conditioning, but at a price. For a similar cost you could have air conditioning for your office, living room, workshop, bedroom, or shop. Finance and leasing packages are available, subject to status, which makes owning or renting even easier.