- Home
- Guides
Guides to read before you buy air conditioning
Nine guides on cost, rules and practical choices, written for people still deciding. We checked every rule and figure in them against the original source on 9 November 2026.
Ask us for a price
Leave three details and we phone you to talk it through.
Air conditioning costs: fitting, wiring and the bills that follow
National figures for the unit, the labour and the wiring, then the extras a lease, a landlord or a conservation area can bring.
What air conditioning costs to run, worked out at today's price cap
Pence per hour and pounds per summer for a 2.5 kW split, with winter warmth set against a fan heater and mains gas.
Does air conditioning need planning permission? The rules and the exceptions
When a unit counts as permitted development, and where Redbridge, Havering, Waltham Forest, Hackney and Chigwell differ.
No outdoor unit? Monoblocs, portables and splits compared
Through-wall monoblocs set against portables and splits, for flats and frontages that cannot carry an outdoor box.
How loud is air conditioning? Indoor units, outdoor units and the neighbours
Makers' decibel figures, the 37 dB(A) sum at the neighbour's window, and what happens if someone complains.
Cooling a bedroom: sleep, quiet running and the right size of unit
Why bedrooms are the first room to cool, how quiet a unit runs on its lowest setting, and how big it needs to be.
Air conditioning in a loft conversion: heat, siting and pipe routes
The research on hot London lofts, what to try first, and how a unit and its pipes fit a dormer or a gable.
Sizing an air conditioner: kilowatts, BTU and the room in front of you
Two published sizing tables side by side, the conversion between them, and what changes the answer.
Checking the F-gas register before you hire an air conditioning firm
The firm's certificate, the engineer's own qualification, how to check both, and where R32 sits in the leak-check rules.
Short on time? The questions page answers the common ones in a sentence or two.
Rather we called you?
Your name, phone number and postcode are all we need to call you. A word about the room helps us come prepared. You can also call 020 8176 6154.