Heating and cooling for your situation
The situations we see most, answered by the same engine as the planner. Pick the one closest to yours, then change any answer to make it yours.
Heating, cooling and hot water for a whole home
What stays, what changes, and which equipment does each job.
- A gas-heated house that gets too hot in summerA working gas boiler and radiators staying put, with cooling wanted in the bedrooms and living room while the family lives in the house.Best plan: Keep heating + fixed AC · £
- Replacing the boiler but keeping the radiatorsA heat pump on the existing radiators for heating and hot water, with cooling added only in the bedrooms — because radiators cannot cool.Best plan: Heat pump + radiators + AC · £££ · a grant may apply
- A home on storage heatersOne of the strongest cases for air-to-air: whole-home heating and cooling from the same equipment, keeping the immersion cylinder for hot water.Best plan: Whole-home AC + cylinder · ££ · a grant may apply
- A refurbishment where nothing should be visibleA major refurbishment with ceiling space being created, cooling throughout, and a requirement that only grilles show.Best plan: Ducted AC + cylinder · £££ · a grant may apply
- A flat on communal heating with nowhere for an outdoor unitThe honest answer when the heating is a building-wide decision and there is nowhere outside: room units now, and what would change it.Best plan: Room units for now · £
- A three-storey house that should only have one outdoor unitCooling on every floor with as little outside as possible, mid-renovation — where the number of floors decides the answer.Best plan: Keep heating + concealed AC · ££
Cooling one room or a few
Which system suits, with an indicative cost.
- A rented flat where nothing permanent can be installedCooling one bedroom in a rented flat, no drilling or outdoor unit allowed, used through the summer.Best match: Window air conditioner · £300–£900 to buy
- A bedroom, under £500, something you can put away in winterA small bedroom with sash windows, a firm ceiling of about £500, and a preference for a unit that stores away out of season.Best match: Window air conditioner · £300–£900 to buy
- A bedroom with a fixed system that heats in winter as wellOne medium bedroom, permanent changes and an outdoor unit both fine, wanting heating as well as cooling, open to a proper installation.Best match: Single-split air-to-air heat pump · £2,500–£5,100 installed
- A home office used most of the yearA medium home office in use much of the year, outdoor unit possible, running cost the main concern.Best match: Single-split air-to-air heat pump · £2,500–£5,100 installed
- A large living room where an outdoor unit is not possibleA large living room, permanent changes allowed but nowhere for an outdoor condenser, casement windows, regular summer use.Best match: Fixed monobloc air conditioner · £2,400–£5,100 installed
- A loft bedroom that overheatsA converted loft room, outdoor unit probably possible, used through the summer, heating a bonus.Best match: Single-split air-to-air heat pump · £2,500–£5,100 installed
- A conservatory that is unusable in summerA conservatory, permanent changes fine, outdoor unit possible, wanting to use it in winter as well.Best match: Single-split air-to-air heat pump · £2,500–£5,100 installed
- Casement windows and no drilling allowedOne room with casement windows, no permanent changes, cooling only for hot spells.Best match: Portable air conditioner · £250–£700 to buy
- Two bedrooms, both needing coolingTwo bedrooms, permanent changes and an outdoor unit both fine, heating wanted too — one multi-split or two single splits.Best match: Multi-split air-to-air heat pump · £3,600–£7,800 installed
- Three rooms and no outdoor unit possibleA living room and two bedrooms, permanent changes fine but no outdoor condenser possible.Best match: Fixed monobloc air conditioner · £3,200–£6,900 installed
- A whole home, mid-renovationMost of the house, during a renovation with significant building work, keeping the existing heating.Best route: whole-home assessment
- A whole home without major building workMost of the house, no renovation planned, outdoor units possible, main heating staying as it is.Best route: whole-home assessment
Costs are indicative and ours: installed systems from our versioned estimator, portable and window units our market estimate. Not a quotation.