Section
Choosing and fitting
Nothing here has been physically tested and nothing is scored. What you get is the published specification, the running cost in pounds, the rules that decide what you may fit, and an honest statement of what a machine will and will not do. What happens after it is on the wall is in Servicing.
Choose it
Before you have bought anything. What size, what it will cost to run, and which units meet the figure.
The units
11 units, 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 and no rankings.
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
Pedestal fan
Writing
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What actually decides whether solar panels pay for themselves
Four numbers decide it, and only one of them is the price of the panels. What you export matters less than most people expect, and MCS gates the lot.
David White -
The decibel figure on the box is not a number you can compare
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
Fit it
What the law allows, what the state will pay towards it, and who is certified to do the work.
Writing
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What should be in an air conditioning quote
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
£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 -
Fitting air conditioning in a flat, and why the lease decides
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 -
Air conditioning now qualifies for a £2,500 government grant
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 planning rule that decides what air conditioning you can fit
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