Home Air Con Installation Prices

While the UK isn’t known as a particularly hot country, but we do get a week or two each year when the temperature indoors is uncomfortably warm.

Also, as homes are now better insulated, they tend to retain heat well into the night, which might explain why it sometimes feels warmer inside then in does outside.

If you want to know how much a fully installed air-con unit costs, you’ve come to the right place.

Below you’ll find:

• A simple calculation you can do to reveal which unit is best for you.
• A fully installed price.
• Where you can get a custom price.
• Alternatives.
• Helpful info and tips so you spend your money wisely.

We recently contacted 16 air conditioning installers and asked for a price to supply and install an air-con unit to our master bedroom.

As our living room is south-facing and retains heat well into the night, we also asked for a separate price to install a unit in this room too.

You can use our findings as a guide to how much a home air conditioning system costs in the UK.

Here are the specifics of our projects:

• We wanted a split system with a unit inside and a fan outside as these are the most efficient.
• Our living room and bedroom are typical for a UK home with a combined floor space of 45 square metres.
• We wanted a quiet system and were prepared to pay a little extra for this (i.e. we didn’t want the cheapest system on the market but didn’t want to break the bank either).

Project 1 – Cost to Install Air Con Into a Bedroom

There’s nothing worse than trying to get to sleep in a hot, stuffy bedroom and if you had to choose one room to place your air-con unit, this would be it.

Our master bedroom is located at the rear of the property on the first floor and measures 5m x 4m so has a floor space of 20 square metres.

We were told that the smallest unit suitable for our room would be around 7000BTU but that it’s better to go one size up and turn down the power if we found it too powerful.

The last thing we wanted was to spend money on an underpowered unit, so we chose a 9000BTU air con system for this room.

Here is how much we were told the fully installed unit would cost:

Project 2 – A Two-Room Air Conditioning System

As our living room is directly beneath the master bedroom and also gets hot in the summer, it made sense to ask how much an extra air-con unit would cost.

The price below is for two air-con units connected to a single fan outside, the power output of the whole system is 18000BTU.

Our living room is 25 square metres in size and is south-facing.

If your second room is some distance away from the fan, it will cost more than this as the electrician will have lots of extra piping to complete.

Our Prices Include the Following

The prices on this page include the following:

• The wall mounted air-con unit(s).
• The external fan.
• All parts for the wiring and piping.
• Installation by a qualified electrician.
• A certificate of completion (by an electrician who can self-certify the installation).
• VAT.

What These Prices Exclude

The prices on this page are for a standard and typical home air-con installation. You may pay more if:

• You live in a flat or apartment depending on how far the fan will be from the unit and how easy or difficult access is.
• You want more than one or two rooms air-conditioned.
• You want a ceiling mounted (ducted) system.
• Your rooms are larger or have very high ceilings as you may need a more powerful system.
• Our rooms were at the rear of the house, which is also where the fan will be fitted, so this was a straightforward installation, yours could be more complicated.

How To Quickly and Easily Estimate How Much Your Home Air Con Will Cost

Here is a very easy and quick way to estimate how much a fully installed air con unit will cost, assuming a standard installation:

First, measure the width, length and height of your room(s) and then head over to this nifty BTU calculator.

For an average size room, it will suggest a BTU of between 6000 and 8000.

Now go and find a suitable unit from any of the suppliers listed below, we suggest you do your research and find one that has good reviews online and isn’t too noisy (many sellers display the noise in decibels and you can compare it to everyday sounds on this chart). You may also wish to check the size of the unit, so it fits onto your wall.

Amazon (a very good place to read reviews).

Air Con Direct (you can ask a question on each product page, perhaps about the noise level in decibels, for example.)

We know from our research that the approximate installation cost of an air conditioning system is around £1000 to £1300 for a single unit and from £1300 to £1500 for a two-room system (this includes things like brackets, wiring essentials etc.). So just add either price to the cost of your chosen unit.

Alternatives

Alternatives to fully installed air conditioning units fall into one of two categories:

• Fans.
• Portable units.

Fans – These don’t actually cool the air, but the feeling of a breeze over your skin can make you more comfortable when it’s really hot. The downside is the noise, effectiveness and the fact that they take up storage space when not in use. We prefer tower fans as they are often tall enough to blast air over a sofa or bed and are so slim they don’t take up much space in the room or storage.

Portable air con units – All air conditioning units need to vent warm air outside so any portable system will come with ducting that must be placed through a partially open window, through a hole cut in the windowpane or straight through the wall. The downside of these systems is that they are often noisy, heavy, large and the ducting is unsightly. If you do choose one of these systems, get a handyman to cut a hole through the wall and fit removable caps on either side so you can push the ducting through when needed and remove when summer is finished.

Princess Portable Unit

Another free-standing air con unit, this product stands out from the rest due to great reviews and its weight. At 15kg, this device really is portable but is still powerful enough for a small room.

6 Things to Consider Before Buying a Home Air Con System

Consider these 6 things before you spend your money on a new air conditioning system:

• Noise: Often overlooked by buyers is how much noise the device will produce at different power settings. If the documentation for the device isn’t published online, ask the manufacturer before you buy.
• Efficiency rating: Check the energy rating of the air-con unit, most are exactly environmentally friendly, but a low rating could mean it’s an older model that will cost you more to run.
• Where it will be placed: The furthest point away from the bed is usually the best place in the bedroom. While against an external wall is the most popular place in the front room. Again, think about the noise when choosing a location.
• Upgradable: Small, cheap and underpowered units might be okay for a single room but if you wanted to add an extra room at a later date, will you be able to upgrade the system with an additional unit? Or will you need to replace the whole lot?
• Features: Remote controlled, app-enabled and even Alexa-compatible air con units are available. Most people would be happy with just a remote control, but if you’re away from home and want a pre-cooled home upon your return, an app-enabled unit would be your best bet.
• Air filtration: Allergy sufferers will want to note the filtration system within the unit as they’re not all the same.

Get a Custom Price For a Home Air Conditioning Installation

Say goodbye to sleepness, hot and sweltering nights, tap the button below and get your custom quote for a new air-con system for your home:

Home Air-Con FAQs

Below you’ll find answers to questions about air-con systems, prices and their installation: