Air conditioning installation in Maidstone

What an installation involves

A split system has an indoor unit, usually high on a wall, and an outdoor unit that sits on brackets or on a base at ground level. Two insulated copper pipes, a power and control cable and a drain for condensation join them through a hole in the wall. Where the two units are back to back, almost nothing shows. Where they are further apart, the pipes run in white trunking, through a loft or down the outside of the house.

Why the survey matters

Most of what makes a job go well is decided before anything is fixed to a wall. At the survey we look at:

• the size of the room, its windows and which way they face, to size the unit
• a wall that can carry the indoor unit, with space around it for the air to move
• the route for the pipes and the drain, because condensation has to fall away
• a place for the outdoor unit with clear air around it, away from your neighbour's bedroom window
• your consumer unit, and whether it can take another circuit
• whether the house is listed or in a conservation area

Electrical work and building regulations

A wall-mounted unit normally needs its own supply and an outdoor isolator switch, and that is usually the main extra on a quote. In England, adding a new circuit is notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations, so it has to be done by a registered electrician or signed off through building control. Keep the certificate with the rest of the paperwork, as your buyer's solicitor may ask for it when you sell.

Commissioning: what happens at the end

Once both units are fixed, the pipework is pressure tested and evacuated to remove air and moisture, the system is charged and started up, and the temperatures are checked. Only someone with the right F-gas qualification may do this work. Small rooms also have a limit on how much refrigerant a system can hold, because R32 is flammable in the right conditions, and that is checked at the design stage. You should finish with a working system, controls you understand and a record of what was installed. Read F-gas rules and your installer for what to ask for.

What changes the price

The main things are the output of the unit, the length and difficulty of the pipe run, the height of the outdoor unit and the electrical work. A back-to-back job on a ground-floor wall is the simplest. A loft room with the outdoor unit at ground level takes longer. Our guide to what air conditioning costs gives national figures and shows how to compare quotes.