Costs
How much does air conditioning installation cost in London?
The short answer, the price ladder size by size, what the number already covers, and the things that move it.
Air conditioning installation across London. Based in Harrow and Stanmore.
The short answer
Air conditioning installation in London costs from £1,900 for a 2.5kW wall mounted unit and from £3,700 for a 7.1kW one, fully installed and including VAT. That one number covers the unit, the installation and the electrical connection by a qualified electrician. Most single room jobs in a London home sit between those two figures, and what moves a job along that ladder is the room rather than the postcode. The exact price is agreed in writing after a free survey and before any work starts.
The price ladder, size by size.
Every figure below is a from price for a standard installation, fully installed inc VAT, with the electrical work in it. The capacity column is the one that decides which row your room is on.
2.5kW
Bedrooms and studies
From£1,900
Fully installed inc VAT
Fused spur connection
3.5kW
Larger bedrooms
From£2,100
Fully installed inc VAT
Fused spur connection
5.0kW
Living rooms
From£3,000
Fully installed inc VAT
Dedicated circuit
7.1kW
Open plan spaces
From£3,700
Fully installed inc VAT
Dedicated circuit
From prices cover a standard installation. Longer pipe runs, condensate pumps, above first floor access and consumer unit work are quoted upfront, never on the day.
What the number already covers.
These are the lines that turn up as additions on a lot of quotes. They are in the from price here, which is the whole point of quoting one number.
- Up to 3m of pipework
- External trunking
- Bracket or feet for the outdoor unit
- Gravity drain
- Electrical connection by a qualified electrician
- Fused spur on 2.5 and 3.5kW, dedicated circuit on 5.0kW and up
- Commissioning and a handover pack
The unit itself is in there too, along with a free survey before anything is booked, commissioning at the end and a handover pack.
Optional extras
Priced upfront on your quote, never on the day.
| Extra | Price |
|---|---|
| Pipework beyond 3m | £45 per metre |
| Internal boxed trunking | £35 per metre |
| Condensate pump | £160 |
| Removal of an old system | £250 |
| Two visit installation | Plus 10 percent |
These are the four or five things a standard installation cannot always cover, and they are priced here rather than discovered on the day. If your room needs one, it goes on the written quote with the figure next to it before you decide anything.
What actually moves the price.
Six things, in roughly the order a surveyor works through them. Nothing on this list is unusual and nothing on it is a surprise once somebody has looked at the room.
The size of the room, not the size of the house
Capacity is picked from the room: its floor area, its ceiling height, how much glass it has and which way that glass faces. A south facing loft bedroom can need more cooling than a north facing living room twice its size. This is the single biggest thing between a from price of 1,900 pounds and one of 3,700 pounds, and it is settled at the survey rather than over the phone.
How far apart the two units are
Three metres of pipework is in every from price, which covers the common case where the outdoor unit goes on the other side of the same wall. Longer runs cost 45 per metre pounds per metre. Mid terrace houses with no side access and upper floor flats are where this shows up most, because the only available condenser position can be a long way from the room.
Where the condensate goes
An air conditioner makes water when it cools, and that water has to leave the building. A gravity drain is included and it is what most ground and first floor rooms get. Where there is nothing to fall towards, a condensate pump is needed, at 160 pounds. Converted lofts and flats above the first floor are the usual candidates.
What the consumer unit can take
A 2.5kW or 3.5kW unit runs from a fused spur. From 5.0kW upwards it wants a dedicated circuit back to the board, and some older boards have no spare way for one. The connection itself is included whichever it is, done by a qualified electrician. If the board needs work beyond that, it is priced before anything is booked.
Getting to the outdoor unit
Ground floor and first floor positions are a normal day. Anything higher needs access equipment and changes how the day is planned, and sometimes turns one visit into two, which is plus 10 percent. In London this comes up most in mansion blocks and in converted houses where the only wall that works is at the back, three floors up.
The unit you choose
The ranges do not cost the same. A 2.5kW Samsung WindFree S2 is from 1,900 pounds installed and a 2.5kW Daikin Stylish is from 2,500 pounds, for the same room and the same day's work. The difference is the unit on the wall: how it looks, how it moves air and what finishes it comes in.
Why two quotes for the same room can be a thousand pounds apart.
Usually it is not that one company is expensive and the other is cheap. It is that the two numbers are answers to different questions. Five reasons, worth checking on any quote you are holding, including this one.
Some prices are for the box only
A supply only price for a wall unit can look like half of an installed price, because it is. Fitting it, running the pipework and connecting it are somebody else's invoice.
The electrical work is often separate
It is common for an air conditioning quote to stop at the isolator and leave the connection to an electrician you arrange. That is a second trade, a second visit and a second bill, and it is usually a few hundred pounds.
VAT is sometimes left off
A trade facing price is often quoted excluding VAT. Twenty percent on a three thousand pound job is six hundred pounds, so it is worth checking which one you are reading before comparing two numbers.
The from price is for the smallest unit
Every company advertises the bottom of its range. If the room needs 5.0kW, the 2.5kW headline figure was never going to be the price. Ours are set out size by size for that reason.
The extras are found later
Pipe runs, pumps, trunking and access are the four things most often left for the day of the install. They are the reason a quote and an invoice can disagree, and they are why ours are listed with prices before you agree to anything.
And after it is in.
A service is from £150 for the first unit and £50 for each extra unit on the same visit, or from £12 a month on a care plan. Filters, coils, the drain and the refrigerant pressures all get checked, which is what keeps a unit quiet and keeps it drawing the electricity it was designed to draw.
Running cost is the question we get asked most and it is the one nobody can answer honestly from a distance. It depends on the unit, the room, the insulation and how many hours a day it runs. Anyone quoting you a pence per hour figure before seeing the room is guessing. What is worth knowing is that every unit we fit is a heat pump as well as an air conditioner, so the same box that cools in August heats in January, and that changes the arithmetic against buying a separate heater.
Every install carries a 12 month parts and labour warranty on our work, on top of the manufacturer’s warranty on the unit, which we register for you at handover.
More on that on the servicing and repair page.
Get a number for your room
Answer a few questions about the room and you will get a from price in about a minute, with no visit and no obligation. Or call and describe it, which is quicker. Either way the exact figure comes from the free survey.
We install across London and we are based in Harrow and Stanmore. The areas we cover page lists the boroughs and towns, and what changes about a job from one part of the capital to another.
Installation costs in London
One number, before anything starts.
Describe the room on the phone for a from price. The exact figure is agreed in writing at the free survey.