What decides the price of air conditioning
You won’t find a list of prices here, because two houses on the same Slough road can need quite different work. What you will find is each factor that pushes a figure up or down, so the estimate makes sense when you see it.
The equipment
Units are sized in kilowatts of cooling. A small bedroom might need 2.5kW, while an open-plan kitchen and family room with bifold doors could need 5kW or more. The surveyor works this out from the room’s dimensions, the windows and which way it faces.
- Capacity
- Larger units cost more, but an undersized one runs flat out and never quite copes.
- Indoor style
- Wall-mounted is the norm. Floor consoles and ceiling cassettes are dearer.
- Range
- Premium models are quieter and use less electricity for the same output.
The fitting work
Labour depends less on the unit and more on the route between the indoor and outdoor parts. Typical homes around here show the range:
- A 1930s semi in Cippenham or Langley. Bedroom on an outside wall at the back, outdoor unit on the ground below. About as simple as it gets.
- A Victorian terrace near Windsor town centre. Thick solid walls and a narrow rear yard. The core drill takes longer and the outdoor unit needs a careful spot.
- A newer detached house in Maidenhead or Burnham. Several bedrooms on a multi-split, with pipes routed through the loft and down one corner.
- A flat in central Slough. Usually depends on the freeholder approving a position, and upper floors can need access equipment.
Occasional extras
Not every job needs these, and the survey will say whether yours does before you commit to anything.
- Condensate pump
- Where water from the indoor unit can’t drain away by gravity.
- Trunking
- Neat white cover for pipework that has to run along a wall.
- Electrical work
- A new circuit, or fuse board work on an older installation.
- Access
- A tower or platform for outdoor units high on a wall.
- Wall brackets
- When there’s no ground space, the unit goes up on a bracket.
- Making good
- Filling and tidying around holes in decorated rooms.
Running costs
Modern split systems are heat pumps, so they move more heat than the electricity they draw. A bedroom unit used on summer nights adds a modest amount to a bill. Settings matter more than people expect: aiming for 24°C rather than 19°C cuts consumption noticeably, and closing curtains on sunny afternoons helps the unit keep up.
If you also use it for heating in spring and autumn, it can reduce how often the gas boiler fires up. The heating page looks at that in more depth.
See a figure for your own home
The estimate asks about each room and shows a guide price at the end.