Air conditioning outdoor unit mounted on wall brackets above brick, with isolator and trunking, on a central London property

Air conditioning in
Central London

Air conditioning in Central London, with the permissions, parking and building access arranged before we arrive.

  • Free survey, no charge and no obligation
  • Fixed written price before anything starts
  • Permission position checked for your address first
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Accredited, and fitting the brands you know

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Finished jobs in and near Central London

Our own installations, the closest first, photographed on the day.

All 39 projects
Samsung monobloc air source heat pump in Camden NW1 Heat pump NW1 Camden Samsung monobloc air source heat pump Levelled on packers on an existing tiled patio rather than bolted through it, so the tiling stays intact and the unit still sits dead flat. Read the case study Vaillant aroTHERM plus 7 kW air source heat pump in Islington N1 Heat pump N1 Islington Vaillant aroTHERM plus 7 kW air source heat pump There was no room for it in the garden, so it went on the flat roof, stood on rubber blocks over a protective mat so the roof covering carries no point load. Read the case study Vaillant aroTHERM plus 7 kW air source heat pump in Holland Park W14 Heat pump W14 Holland Park Vaillant aroTHERM plus 7 kW air source heat pump A Holland Park house taken off gas in three days. The outdoor unit fits a narrow side passage, and the cylinder is only a short run away from it. Read the case study Vaillant aroTHERM plus 7 kW air source heat pump in London E1 Heat pump E1 London Vaillant aroTHERM plus 7 kW air source heat pump Built around underfloor heating during a renovation: the old system out and the heat pump running in three days, set on anti-vibration feet on a level base against the fence. Read the case study Vaillant air source heat pump with solar panels and a battery in Finsbury Park N4 Heat pump, solar and battery N4 Finsbury Park Vaillant air source heat pump with solar panels and a battery The panels on the roof run the heat pump through the day and the battery carries it into the evening, so the house buys far less from the grid. The unit sits on raised feet against the rear wall. Read the case study Vaillant aroTHERM plus air source heat pump in Hackney E9 Heat pump E9 Hackney Vaillant aroTHERM plus air source heat pump Fitted in three days as part of a renovation, replacing the gas boiler. It now runs the underfloor heating and the hot water, from a unit on blocks in the side return. Read the case study Vaillant aroTHERM plus air source heat pump in Hornsey N8 Heat pump N8 Hornsey Vaillant aroTHERM plus air source heat pump The owner wanted the indoor equipment out of the living space, so it went into the loft. The outdoor unit has its own base in the garden. Three days, gas boiler out. Read the case study Solar panels on ballasted frames, flat roof in Cricklewood NW2 Solar and battery NW2 Cricklewood Solar panels on ballasted frames, flat roof Low-tilt frames standing on the pebble finish of a new-build flat roof and held down by weight, so nothing is fixed through the waterproofing, with a clear strip left along the parapet to walk and work from. Read the case study

Air conditioning installation in central London costs 2,400 to 3,200 pounds for one room fitted including VAT, which is the same as anywhere else we work: there is no central London premium on our prices, and the congestion charge and the parking are ours.

What actually costs money in central London is the consent, the access equipment and the hours you are allowed to work in.

An outdoor air conditioning unit we fitted on brackets on a London rear wall

Your estimate

£2,400to£3,200

Supplied, fitted, commissioned and certificated. Includes VAT.

Price it for your address

The same model the rest of the site uses. The survey turns it into one fixed written price.

How many rooms?
How big is the room?

Last step: what number should we call with your fixed price?

Every figure on this site is an estimate built from the quotations we issued in 2026 and our own installation experience. It is not a quotation. The price you are given after the free survey is the price you pay.

From first call to cool rooms in three steps

  1. Free survey

    We measure the rooms, find the outdoor position and check permission for your address.

  2. A fixed written price

    Units, pipework and electrics itemised. The number does not move unless the job does.

  3. Fitted in a day

    One room a day, tested in every mode, and shown to you before we leave.

Read the full guide: 5 sections, about 3 minutes

The three things that make a central London job different

Consent first. Almost everything inside the congestion charge zone is either a flat or a listed building or inside a conservation area, and usually two of the three. A flat needs written freeholder consent and planning permission regardless of how discreet the installation is, because flats have no permitted development rights for this work. A managing agent will want a drawing, the sound data at the nearest window, our insurance and often a licence for alterations.

Access second. If the outdoor unit cannot go at ground level, and in a mansion block it usually cannot, it goes on a bracket, in a light well or on a flat roof. Each of those brings its own equipment and sometimes a permit to put a tower on the pavement.

Hours third. Many blocks restrict noisy work to weekday daytime and some restrict it further. That is not a problem, but it does mean a two day job cannot be compressed into a Saturday, and anybody who tells you otherwise has not read the house rules.

What the congestion charge and parking add to your price

Nothing. The congestion charge is a daily figure for every day the van is inside the zone, and central London parking is either a suspended bay, a permit from the building or a meter for the length of the job. All of it is our cost of working here and none of it is a line on your quotation.

That is not a promise made for a website. Every quotation this company has issued this year, including one inside the zone, shows delivery costs of zero and carries no travel, congestion or parking line at all. The only additions any of them name are a fuse board, condensate pumps and pipework past what is included.

Noise, and the neighbour who has not been asked yet

In a terrace or a mansion block the outdoor unit is going to sit near somebody else's window, and that is the objection that stops more central London installations than price does. It is a solvable problem and the solution is arithmetic rather than persuasion: a modern inverter unit runs at 46 to 52 dB(A) at one metre on low fan, which is roughly a fridge, and sound falls off with distance and with anything solid in the way.

We take the sound pressure figure for the specific unit, the distance to the nearest habitable window and calculate what arrives there. That number is what goes in the consent pack, and it is the thing that makes a freeholder say yes.

What it costs in Central London

Installed prices, Central London
JobSystemInstalled price
One bedroom2.5kW single split£2,400 to £3,200
One double bedroom3.5kW single split£2,550 to £3,500
One living room5kW single split£2,750 to £3,850
Two rooms2 unit multi-split£4,300 to £5,800
Three rooms3 unit multi-split£6,400 to £8,600
Annual serviceAny make£95 plus VAT
Fault diagnosisAny make£89 plus VAT, waived if we repair

Every figure on this site is an estimate built from the quotations we issued in 2026 and our own installation experience. It is not a quotation. The price you are given after the free survey is the price you pay.

The Central London boroughs we cover

Each of these has its own page with the local housing stock, the conservation area position and the postcodes inside it.

Air conditioning in Central London: common questions

Do I need planning permission for air conditioning in central London?

If it is a flat, yes, always, regardless of the borough or how the unit is positioned. Flats do not have permitted development rights for this work.

If it is a house inside a conservation area, and most central London houses are, you keep permitted development rights but the unit cannot go on a wall or roof slope fronting a highway. If it is a listed building, listed building consent is needed as well as planning permission. Every condition is set out on the planning permission page.

Can you work in a mansion block with a porter and a licence for alterations?

Yes, and it is a large part of what we do in W1, SW1, SW3 and SW7. We prepare the pack the managing agent asks for at no charge: the drawing, the specification, the sound calculation at the nearest window, the method statement and our insurance.

We would rather do that before you have paid for anything, because the answer from the freeholder is what decides whether the job is worth starting.

Is there a congestion charge on top of the quote?

No. It is not added afterwards and it is not buried in the rate either: the price for a room in W1 is the price for the same room in N14. We pay the charge and the parking because that is what working in central London costs us, not you.

How quiet can you get the outdoor unit?

The best domestic units run at 46 to 52 dB(A) at one metre on their lowest fan speed. At four metres, which is a normal distance to a neighbour's window, that arrives at somewhere around 34 to 40 dB(A), below the level of a quiet room.

Anti-vibration mounts matter as much as the unit's own rating, because in a masonry building the complaint is usually about structure-borne hum rather than about air noise.

Free survey anywhere in Central London

Tell us the postcode and which rooms, and you get a written fixed price and an honest answer on whether it needs permission.

Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm, Saturday 10am to 3pm, Sunday closed

What do you need?

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