Question 1

Is it worth installing AC in the UK?

Accepted Answer

For a growing number of London homes, yes. Heatwaves have lengthened, 40°C has been recorded, and lofts, top-floor flats and glazed extensions become genuinely unusable for weeks each summer. A £1,600 to £2,600 install that also heats efficiently in winter earns its keep on sleep alone, and estate agents increasingly list installed cooling as a feature rather than a curiosity.

Question 2

What is the difference between a split and a multi-split system?

Accepted Answer

A split system pairs one indoor unit with one outdoor condenser and cools one room. A multi-split runs two to five indoor units from a single outdoor condenser, each room with its own controls. Multi-splits cost slightly more per room for two rooms and win decisively from three, because London homes rarely have several good condenser positions.

Question 3

Are portable air conditioners any good?

Accepted Answer

As a stopgap, just about; as a solution, no. A portable unit exhausts its heat through a hose out a window that must stay open around it, leaking heat straight back in, so it delivers roughly half its rated cooling in practice, at 44 to 55 dB(A) beside you all night. An installed split cools better, silently, for a third of the electricity per degree.

Question 4

What size air conditioner do I need?

Accepted Answer

Rules of thumb for UK rooms: 2.5kW for a typical double bedroom, 3.5kW for most living rooms, 5kW for large open-plan spaces, then adjusted for glazing, orientation and the roof above. Loft rooms need more than their floor area suggests. Oversizing is a real fault, not a safety margin: an oversized unit short-cycles, dehumidifies poorly and wears its compressor.

Question 5

Which air conditioning brand is best?

Accepted Answer

The mainstream Japanese and Korean manufacturers, Daikin, Mitsubishi Electric, Fujitsu, Panasonic, Toshiba, LG and Samsung, are all excellent, and the differences within that group matter less than unit selection and installation quality. What separates them from the unbranded units in cheap quotes is UK parts support and warranties of 5 to 7 years that actually get honoured.

Question 6

Can air conditioning heat my home in winter?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every system we install is an air-to-air heat pump: reversed, it delivers roughly three kilowatts of heat per kilowatt of electricity, works in sub-zero London weather, and warms a room far faster than radiators. It heats the rooms it serves; it does not replace your boiler for hot water.

Question 7

What is R32 refrigerant and does it matter?

Accepted Answer

R32 is the standard refrigerant in current air conditioning systems: more efficient than the R410A it replaced and with about a third of its global warming potential if released. It is mildly flammable, which is one reason installation is legally restricted to F-Gas certified engineers. If you are buying new, R32 is what you should be offered.

Question 8

Wall-mounted or ducted air conditioning: which should I choose?

Accepted Answer

Wall-mounted units win on cost, simplicity and retrofit: £1,600 to £2,600 per room, installed in a day in a finished house. Ducted wins on invisibility: machinery hidden in lofts and bulkheads, only slim grilles showing, from around £7,000, and it makes most sense during refurbishment when ceilings are already open. The state of your ceilings usually decides.

Choosing an Air Conditioning System