Why are portable air conditioners sold out in the UK?

During a heatwave, demand spikes and popular portable air conditioners like the Meaco range sell out at major UK retailers such as AO, Currys and B&Q within hours.

How does AirconAlert work?

Pick the models you want and AirconAlert watches UK retailers, then emails you the moment a sold-out unit is back in stock.

Yes. Stock alerts are free. You confirm your email and we notify you when your chosen aircon is available again.

Aircon's sold out everywhere. We'll find you one first.

Portable air conditioners vanish the moment it gets hot. We watch UK retailers around the clock and email you the second your model is back in stock, while everyone else is still refreshing.

— portable air conditioners in stock across 15 UK retailers right now

15 retailers, checked around the clock checking…

Everything we watch

— listings · checked every few minutes

In stock only

On Amazon right now

live · checked every few minutes

What size do you need?

5,000–7,000 BTUSmall bedroom or study, up to about 15m²

9,000–10,000 BTULarge bedroom or small living room, 15–25m²

12,000 BTULiving room or open-plan space, 25–30m²

14,000 BTU+Large open-plan, or a room with big south-facing windows

Add roughly 10% if the room faces south, is under a roof, or has a lot of glass. Undersizing is the common mistake — a unit that never reaches temperature runs constantly and costs more than the bigger one would have.

Prices and stock are read from Amazon every few minutes. Delivery dates depend on your address, so check the date on the product page before you buy. Links carry our Amazon Associates tag and earn us a commission at no cost to you.

How fast an alert reaches you

measured, not estimated

When the MeacoCool Cirro came back at John Lewis in July, it sold out in 14 minutes. That is the whole problem: a restock is not a sale window, it is a sprint.

We check every listing every few minutes and send the moment stock flips. On 2 July a Screwfix unit went live at 16:40 and 2,239 alerts were away by 16:52. The stock was gone by 16:54.

Every figure on this page comes from our own send logs. Where we do not have the data, we leave it out.

Set an alert for next season

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Tell us where to send it and we will watch every retailer on this page for you.

Watching all models. Use Alert me on any card above to narrow it down.

Where we watch

15 UK retailers, checked around the clock. This list is built from the retailers we are actually reading right now, not a wish list. If yours isn't here and it sells portable air conditioning, tell us and we'll look at adding it.

What we promise

An email about a unit you then can't buy wastes your evening. These are the standards we hold ourselves to, and you can hold us to them.

Every alert is evidenced

We keep a record behind every alert we send. If you ever tell us one was wrong, we can settle it with what the retailer was showing at that moment rather than arguing from memory.

Silence beats a bad alert

Retailers get their own stock wrong more often than they admit. When a unit looks available but we aren't confident, we say nothing and keep watching. You will miss the occasional restock. You won't get sent to a dead page.

What never reaches you

Refurbished and graded stock, pre-orders, evaporative air coolers sold as air conditioning, and gouged marketplace relistings. One seller put a £249 unit back up at £1,249. Nobody heard about it from us.

Sick of the sell-out? Get a permanent AC fitted.

Skip portables entirely — we'll line up vetted UK installer quotes for your area.

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