How long does air conditioning installation take?
A single wall-mounted split takes one day: indoor unit and pipework in the morning, condenser and connections by early afternoon, then vacuum testing and commissioning, with working cooling the same evening. Multi-splits take one to two days, ducted systems three to five. Consent processes for flats add weeks before the day, not to it.
The one-day rhythm of a straightforward split install: protect the room, mount the indoor unit's backplate and drill the pipe route; run and insulate the refrigerant pipes, condensate drain and cable to the condenser position; mount and connect the condenser; pressure-test with nitrogen, evacuate with a vacuum pump, release refrigerant; then commission, measure performance, and walk you through the controls.
The testing block is the part that must not be squeezed. The vacuum stage strips air and moisture from the pipework, and moisture left in a circuit becomes acid over the years, which is precisely the corner cheap installs cut because it is invisible on handover day. Our engineers hold the vacuum and verify it before any refrigerant moves.
What stretches a job past one day is geography rather than the system: condenser positions needing scaffolding or roof access, long internal pipe runs through voids, condensate that needs a pumped route. All of it is visible at survey, so you get the honest duration with the quote rather than a surprise on the morning.
For flats, the calendar cost sits before installation: freeholder consent and any planning process run weeks. Once the paperwork exists, the install itself is the same one day.
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