Air conditioning guide
What affects the cost of home air conditioning installation
There is no single price for home air conditioning, and any figure quoted before someone has seen your property is a guess. Here is what the number is actually made of.
Why nobody can quote you accurately over the phone
A domestic air conditioning quote is really several quotes added together: the equipment, the labour to install it, the materials for the pipe run, and any electrical work needed to supply it. Only the first of those is fixed by a price list. The rest depend on your specific property.
That is why a surveyor asks where the outdoor unit can go before they ask almost anything else. Two identical houses with the condenser in different positions are two different jobs.
It is reasonable to ask an installer for a rough range on the phone. It is not reasonable to expect that range to survive a survey, and you should be wary of anyone who commits to a firm figure without one.
The six things that move the price most
How many rooms you are covering
One indoor unit paired with one outdoor unit is the baseline. Covering several rooms means a multi-split system — more indoor units, more pipework, and a larger outdoor unit to serve them. The cost does not usually scale in a straight line, so it is worth asking what a second or third room would add while the installer is with you.
The size and glazing of the room
Capacity has to match the heat load of the room, not just its floor area. A small conservatory can need more capacity than a considerably larger bedroom because of the glass. Undersizing is the cheaper mistake to make at quote stage and the expensive one to live with.
The specification you choose
Brand, efficiency rating, sound level at low fan speed, and the controls all move the equipment cost. A quieter unit usually costs more, and in a bedroom that is often money well spent. Ask for the specific model being quoted rather than a category.
Where the indoor and outdoor units can go
The indoor unit has to work with the room — not blowing directly at a bed or a desk, and not blocked by furniture. The outdoor unit has to go somewhere structurally sound, serviceable, and far enough from windows and neighbours. Constrained positions add cost because they add work.
The complexity of the installation
Length of pipe run, whether it can be concealed, drilling through solid walls rather than cavity, working at height, scaffolding, difficult access, and making good afterwards. This is the line item that varies most between properties that look similar from the outside.
Electrical work
Some installations need little more than a local isolator. Others need a new dedicated circuit from the consumer unit, and occasionally consumer unit work of their own. Ask whether the quote includes the electrical work or assumes an existing supply.
What should be included in the quote
A quote worth comparing should make clear what is and is not covered. Before you accept one, check that it states:
- The exact model of the indoor and outdoor units, not just a capacity figure
- The proposed position of both units, and the route of the pipework
- Whether making good and any redecoration is included
- What electrical work is included, and what is assumed to already exist
- Commissioning, handover and what documentation you get
- The workmanship warranty, and separately the manufacturer warranty on the equipment
- Whether any annual servicing is required to keep that warranty valid
Two quotes with the same headline figure can differ substantially once that list is filled in, and it is where the real comparison happens.
A note on refrigerant handling
Installing a split air conditioning system involves handling fluorinated refrigerant gas, which is regulated work in the UK. Whoever installs your system should be appropriately qualified to handle it, and should be able to say so without hesitating when you ask. It is a fair question and a reasonable filter when you are comparing quotes.
Typical costs on Teesside
We deliberately do not publish a headline installation price. Any figure we put here would either be copied from elsewhere or made up, and neither helps you judge a quote on your own house.
What we are doing instead is recording what people actually enquire about and, in time, what installations actually cost, so that this section can eventually show real figures from real jobs in this area rather than a national average. Until it can, this space stays empty on purpose.
Common questions
Should I get more than one quote?
For a larger or multi-room installation, yes — and compare what is included rather than just the totals. For a single room, a second quote is still useful but the difference is often smaller than the difference in how well the job is specified.
Is a cheaper quote usually a worse job?
Not necessarily, but find out why it is cheaper. It is frequently a smaller capacity unit, a cheaper brand, a shorter pipe run using a less convenient position, or electrical work that has been excluded rather than included. Any of those can be a perfectly sensible saving if it is a decision you have made knowingly.
Does the price include making good afterwards?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking explicitly. Running pipework through a wall means drilling, and getting the inside back to how you want it is not always assumed to be part of the installation.