Frequently asked questions

Every 10 minutes our servers read the availability that UK retailers publish on their own product pages — the same information you'd see if you opened the page yourself. Each reading is stored, and the moment a listing flips from sold out to available, an event fires. If you hold an alert pass, you get an email within a minute of the flip.

Online listings are swept every 10 minutes, around the clock. B&Q shelf stock (per-store quantities on the store map) is refreshed several times a day. Every row on the site shows exactly when it was last checked — if a timestamp looks stale, that retailer's last sweep genuinely is that old.

There are two different things retailers call "in stock", and it pays to know the difference. In stock online means the retailer's website will let you order for home delivery — that's what our live board tracks. On the shelfmeans a specific branch has physical units you could walk in and buy today. For B&Q we track shelf stock too, down to the aisle and bay, on the store map. A product can be sold out online but sitting on a shelf ten minutes from you — or the reverse.

33models and counting: the Midea PortaSplit (8000 and 12000 BTU), the Meaco Cirro and MeacoCool ranges, De'Longhi Pinguino, Pro Breeze, electriQ, GoodHome and more. We focus on portable and split-hybrid units that actually sell out during UK heatwaves. Missing one you care about? Email alerts@airconalerts.com and we'll usually add it within a day.

Currently: Air Con Centre, Aircon Direct, Appliances Direct, B&Q, De'Longhi (direct), EcoFlow UK, Homebase, John Lewis, Marks Electrical, Meaco (direct), Pro Breeze (direct), Screwfix, Toolstation. All UK storefronts. Some retailers actively block automated checks — where that happens we say so rather than show stale data.

During a heatwave, popular units sell out in hours — sometimes minutes. We show the retailer's published availability as of the last check (the timestamp is always next to the status), but between our sweep and your click, someone else may have bought the last one. That's exactly the problem alert passes solve: the email goes out within a minute of the flip, before word spreads.

A pass is a one-off payment — £4.99 for a week, £9.99 for a month, £14.99 for two months. While it runs, you get an email the moment any tracked listing comes back in stock, with the price and a direct link. When it expires, it simply stops. No subscription, no auto-renewal, no card kept on file.

Running the radar costs real money: servers making hundreds of thousands of checks a month, database storage, and email delivery. Passes cover those costs and keep the service ad-free and independent — we take no money from retailers, and the free live board stays free for everyone.

Yes — within 14 days of purchase we refund the price paid minus £0.70 for each day of monitoring you've used. Email alerts@airconalerts.com from the address on the pass. Full details in the terms.

No. AirconAlerts is independent. Some outbound links may become affiliate links, which never affects what the radar reports — a retailer can't pay to look better stocked, and we'd show a sell-out at an affiliate retailer just as fast as anywhere else.