Technology
Air conditioning
A unit that only cools and a unit that also heats are the same box run in two directions, and in Britain that difference decides whether you need planning permission and whether the state pays towards it. Almost everything on this page follows from it.
The units
9 in the database, every figure copied from the manufacturer's own specification page with the date somebody read it. Nothing has been bought, run or measured, so there are no scores.
Portable air conditioner
- 4-in-1 Portable Air Conditioner 9000 BTU Igenix
- Cirro 12000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner and Heater Meaco
- Cirro 12000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner, cooling only Meaco
- Cirro+ 14000 BTU Inverter Portable Air Conditioner, cooling only Meaco
- EcoSilent 14000 BTU Smart Quiet Portable Air Conditioner, cooling only electriQ
- MeacoCool MC Series Pro 9000 CH Portable Air Conditioner Meaco
Air-to-air heat pump, reversible
- MSZ-AP25VGK with MUZ-AP25VG outdoor unit Mitsubishi Electric
- MSZ-AP35VGK with MUZ-AP35VG outdoor unit Mitsubishi Electric
- MSZ-AP50VGK with MUZ-AP50VG outdoor unit Mitsubishi Electric
Writing
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What should be in an air conditioning quote
Choosing and fitting
A quote with one number on it is not a quote. What the survey should have covered, how many units you actually need, and what to settle before signing.
David White -
What the state pays towards a heat pump, and the catch on all of it
Choosing and fitting
£7,500 for air-to-water, £2,500 for air-to-air, £1,500 more if you are off the gas grid on oil or LPG. Every one of them runs through MCS.
David White -
What it costs to make an old house cope with heat
Your Home
A retrofitted 1960s house sat ten degrees below a 35C day with no air conditioning. The bill was about £80,000 over ten years. What the money bought.
David White -
Who is allowed to service your air conditioning
Servicing
Eight of the eleven units here just plug in. Three contain refrigerant, and the law on who may open that circuit is stricter than most people assume.
David White -
What the October 2026 price cap changes about what you run
Your Home
Electricity loses its VAT and gas rises 8% from 1 October. The verified rates, and the point where a heat pump becomes cheaper than a gas boiler.
David White -
Fitting air conditioning in a flat, and why the lease decides
Choosing and fitting
In a flat the planning rules are the easy half. The lease, the freeholder and who owns the external wall decide whether a split system is possible.
David White -
The decibel figure on the box is not a number you can compare
Choosing and fitting
A fan says "from 25 dB" and an air conditioner says 51 dB. Those are opposite ends of two different machines, and most tables put them in one column.
David White -
Air conditioning now qualifies for a £2,500 government grant
Choosing and fitting
Air-to-air heat pumps joined the Boiler Upgrade Scheme on 28 April 2026. A cooling-only unit does not qualify, and neither does a non-MCS installer.
David White -
The overheating rule that applies to new homes, and the ones it leaves out
Your Home
Part O has covered new homes in England since 2022. What it asks builders to do, the homes it does not reach, and what to check before you commit.
David White -
The planning rule that decides what air conditioning you can fit
Choosing and fitting
In England a unit that only cools is never permitted development, at any size, in any position. One that also heats often is. Most sites miss this.
David White -
What a portable air conditioner actually costs to run
Your Home
The purchase price is the small number. Here is how to work out the running cost for your own unit, your own tariff and the nights you would use it.
David White -
Why your bedroom is still hot at midnight
Your Body
British houses are built to hold heat. A top floor bedroom releases the day's warmth slowly, and the record shows how often nights now stay warm.
David White -
Work out how much cooling your room needs before you buy anything
Your Home
Cooling is a number, not a feeling. Here is how to get it for your own room, and why the answer is often that a machine is the wrong purchase.
David White