Where should the indoor unit go?
High on a wall with clear space around it, throwing air along the length of the room rather than at where people sit or sleep, with a workable route to the condenser and a fall for the condensate drain. In bedrooms the rule is absolute: never blowing across the bed. Good positions are chosen at survey, balancing airflow, pipe route and how the room is lived in.
Airflow decides comfort more than capacity does. A wall unit throws a long, shallow stream of air that should travel the room's length, mix and return; mounted high with clear space beneath, it cools evenly without draughts. Mounted behind a door, boxed by shelving or aimed at a sofa, the same unit delivers complaints instead.
Three practical constraints shape the shortlist of positions. The pipe route: shorter and straighter to the condenser is cheaper, tidier and slightly more efficient, which is why the wall nearest the condenser position is often favourite. The condensate fall: the drain wants a continuous gentle fall to outside, and positions that force a pump add cost and a service item. The structure: the wall must take the fixings, and party walls get isolation care in terraces.
Room by room, the patterns we use: bedrooms, over the door or on the wall the bed sits against, so air washes the room and never the pillow; living rooms, throwing along the room's long axis; home offices, not directly above the desk chair; glazed extensions, high on the solid wall facing the glass, meeting the heat where it enters.
Aesthetics get a vote too: modern units are slim and quiet, but a position that hides the unit from the room's main sightline costs nothing extra when planned early. This is one of the things a survey settles better than a phone call ever can.
More in installation & aftercare, or browse all 40 questions on the FAQ index.
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