Common situation
A refurbishment where nothing should be visible: how to heat, cool and run hot water
A major refurbishment with ceiling space being created, cooling throughout, and a requirement that only grilles show.
Best fit for this home
Concealed ducted heating and cooling, with a separate cylinder
Air-to-air heat pumps hidden in the roof or ceiling, delivering heating and cooling through grilles
Strong fit. No close second, and nothing important left unknown.
This is the best fit because you're planning a renovation or new build, you're open to replacing everything and you want cooling across much of the home.
- Keep
- Nothing — this replaces what you have
- Add
- concealed units with 6 grilles · 2 outdoor units · a hot-water cylinder (you have no cylinder today)
- Remove
- your gas boiler · your radiators stop being your heating (they can be removed later) · hot water from the combi boiler
- Heating
- Ducted air handles the heating, zoned across the home
- Cooling
- Every room
- Hot water
- From your cylinder — kept if you have one, otherwise added
- Radiators
- No longer your heating; remove them when you like
- Indoors
- Discreet ceiling or floor grilles; the equipment is out of sight
- Outdoors
- 2 outdoor positions, subject to survey — usually one condenser
- Work
- Major: duct routes, ceiling access and making good — a refurbishment job
Cost
£££
The largest of these projects: whole-system replacement and significant building work.
The air-conditioning part — 6 indoor units, 2 outdoor — estimates at £8,100–£19,000 installed.
Cost tiers are Airva's own assessment of these routes relative to each other, not a quotation. We don't publish a whole-home price range — an installer survey sets the price.
Why this won: On balance, this does more of what you asked for than Heat pump + fan coils.
- Best done during the work you're already planning
- A complete, coherent replacement
- Scales to cooling across the home
- Takes advantage of the building being open
Every answer below is filled in. Change one and the plan updates.
The answers behind this plan
- Renovation or new build
- Gas boiler
- Radiators
- Combi, no tank
- Open to replacing everything
- Cooling: every room
- Detached
- 4 bed, 2 floors
- Major refurbishment
- Concealed only
- Space being created
- Outside: ground beside the house, flat roof
- Outdoor unit hidden
- Permanent changes OK
- Premium considered
The alternatives, and how they differ
Possible, not our first choice
A heat pump with fan coils that heat and cool
- ↔ Replaces the boiler with a heat pump
- ↔ Adds a cylinder for hot water
- ↔ Replaces the radiators
Heating: the heat pump heats the home through fan coils instead of radiators. Cooling: every room. Hot water: included, through a hot-water cylinder heated by the heat pump.
Read about this →Possible, not our first choice
A heat pump that replaces your boiler, keeping your radiators
- ↔ Replaces the boiler with a heat pump
- ↔ No cooling at all
- ↔ Adds a cylinder for hot water
- ↔ Keeps the radiators
Heating: the heat pump heats the whole home through your existing radiators or underfloor pipes. Cooling: none — radiators cannot cool a room. Hot water: included, through a hot-water cylinder heated by the heat pump.
Read about this →What would change this plan?
- If you wanted to keep your radiators and replace the boiler → A heat pump that replaces your boiler, keeping your radiators
- If you wanted to keep your heating exactly as it is → Keep your existing heating and add concealed AC
Could a grant apply?
Requires installer confirmation. This plan replaces your main heating, so a grant may be in play. Three quick questions decide the position.
- Which nation the property is in
- Whether you own it
- Whether it is a new build
What an installer must confirm
- How hot water is produced once the boiler is gone
- Whether the electrical supply and consumer unit can carry the new load
- That the installer is MCS-certified, if you want to pursue a grant
- A whole-home survey: heat loss room by room, pipe runs and equipment positions
This plan replaces your main heating, so government support may be in play. It is claimed by an MCS-certified installer, never by you directly.
Generated by Airva's planner engine, version 2.0, from the answers above. An initial guide, not a technical system design or formal quotation. Cost tiers are Airva's own assessment of these routes relative to each other, not a quotation. We don't publish a whole-home price range — an installer survey sets the price.
Questions
A refurbishment where nothing should be visible: what is the best system?
Concealed ducted heating and cooling, with a separate cylinder. This is the best fit because you're planning a renovation or new build, you're open to replacing everything and you want cooling across much of the home. It adds concealed units with 6 grilles, 2 outdoor units, a hot-water cylinder (you have no cylinder today).
What would it cost?
The largest of these projects: whole-system replacement and significant building work. The air-conditioning part of the plan estimates at £8,100–£19,000 installed. Cost tiers are Airva's own assessment of these routes relative to each other, not a quotation. We don't publish a whole-home price range — an installer survey sets the price.
What would change the recommendation?
If you wanted to keep your radiators and replace the boiler, it would be a heat pump that replaces your boiler, keeping your radiators. If you wanted to keep your heating exactly as it is, it would be keep your existing heating and add concealed ac.
Would a grant apply?
Requires installer confirmation. This plan replaces your main heating, so a grant may be in play. Three quick questions decide the position. Still to confirm: Which nation the property is in; Whether you own it; Whether it is a new build.