Plain answers Written by our install team
Air conditioning guides for UK homes
Our air conditioning guides answer the questions people ask before they buy, for homes in London and the South East. Read about planning rules, running costs, noise and portable units. Then use our tools to size a room, check a price or see if a grant applies.
- Plain English answers
- Free sizing and price tools
- Fixed prices with VAT
Guides
What do our guides cover?
Aircova’s guides cover the four questions we hear most at surveys: if you need planning permission, what a unit costs to run, which models are quietest, and whether a portable unit will do. Each guide answers the question first, then explains the detail for UK homes.
Planning permission
When a house can add an outdoor unit without consent, and when flats, listed buildings and conservation areas need it.
Air conditioning planning permission
Running costs
What a split unit costs per hour and per year to cool or heat a room, with the sums shown.
Air conditioning running costs
Quiet units
Indoor and outdoor sound figures by model, so you can shortlist a unit for a bedroom or nursery.
Quietest air conditioning units
Portable or split
How a portable unit compares with a fitted split on noise, cooling power, running cost and price.
Portable vs split air conditioningFree tools
Tools to size, price and fund your system
Three pages turn the guides into numbers for your own home.
Size a room
BTU and kW
Enter the room size, ceiling height, sun and insulation. You get a suggested unit size in kW and BTU/h.
Try the BTU calculator.
Check the price
Fitted, VAT included
Fitted prices for one room, multi-split and ducted systems, with the extras that can change a quote.
See our air conditioning prices.
Check the grant
£2,500 off a heat pump
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme can take £2,500 off an air-to-air heat pump in England and Wales. We confirm eligibility at the survey.
Read about the air-to-air heat pump grant.
Grant rules come from Ofgem’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme page, which is the place to check the latest terms.
Where to start
Which guide should you read first?
It depends on what is holding you back. These are the usual starting points we suggest on the phone.
- Living in a flat, a listed building or a conservation area: start with planning. The government note on air conditioning rules says to check with your council.
- Worried about bills: read running costs, as a modern inverter unit gives about 3 to 4 kW of heat per kW of electricity.
- Cooling a bedroom: read the quiet units guide, as some indoor units run from about 19dB in quiet mode.
- Thinking of a cheaper portable box: read portable vs split before you buy one.
Once you know what you want, get an instant quote online in about two minutes. Most homes start with a wall-mounted unit in one room, and our air conditioning installation service covers every room after that.
Get your fixed price
Read the guides and still have a question? Tell us about your room and we will call you back with an answer and a fixed price.
- Reply within one working day
- Free home survey
- Price confirmed in writing
Prefer to talk? Call 07403 664179
Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm
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