Air conditioning in
Central London
Mansion blocks, conservation areas and porters. Central London is not a harder installation than anywhere else, it is a harder set of permissions, and the price difference is almost entirely access rather than the work itself.
- Free survey, no charge and no obligation
- Fixed written price before anything starts
- Permission position checked for your address first
Accredited, and fitting the brands you know
Finished jobs in and near Central London
Our own installations, the closest first, photographed on the day.
Heat pump
NW1
Camden
Samsung monobloc air source heat pump
Levelled on packers on an existing tiled patio rather than bolted through it, so the tiling stays intact and the unit still sits dead flat.
View the project
Heat pump
N1
Islington
Vaillant aroTHERM plus 7 kW air source heat pump
There was no room for it in the garden, so it went on the flat roof, stood on rubber blocks over a protective mat so the roof covering carries no point load.
View the project
Heat pump
W14
Holland Park
Vaillant aroTHERM plus 7 kW air source heat pump
A Holland Park house taken off gas in three days. The outdoor unit fits a narrow side passage, and the cylinder is only a short run away from it.
View the project
Heat pump
E1
London
Vaillant aroTHERM plus 7 kW air source heat pump
Built around underfloor heating during a renovation: the old system out and the heat pump running in three days, set on anti-vibration feet on a level base against the fence.
View the project
Heat pump, solar and battery
N4
Finsbury Park
Vaillant air source heat pump with solar panels and a battery
The panels on the roof run the heat pump through the day and the battery carries it into the evening, so the house buys far less from the grid. The unit sits on raised feet against the rear wall.
View the project
Heat pump
E9
Hackney
Vaillant aroTHERM plus air source heat pump
Fitted in three days as part of a renovation, replacing the gas boiler. It now runs the underfloor heating and the hot water, from a unit on blocks in the side return.
View the project
Heat pump
N8
Hornsey
Vaillant aroTHERM plus air source heat pump
The owner wanted the indoor equipment out of the living space, so it went into the loft. The outdoor unit has its own base in the garden. Three days, gas boiler out.
View the project
Heat pump, solar and battery
N15
Tottenham
Air source heat pump with solar and battery storage
The whole electrical side on one wall: inverter, battery modules and every isolator in reach, with the conduit dressed in straight runs so a fault years from now can be traced without stripping the wall.
View the project
Air conditioning installation in central London costs 2,400 to 3,200 pounds for one room fitted including VAT, which is the same as anywhere else we work: there is no central London premium on our prices, and the congestion charge and the parking are ours.
What actually costs money in central London is the consent, the access equipment and the hours you are allowed to work in.
Read the full guide: 5 sections, about 3 minutes
The three things that make a central London job different
Consent first. Almost everything inside the congestion charge zone is either a flat or a listed building or inside a conservation area, and usually two of the three. A flat needs written freeholder consent and planning permission regardless of how discreet the installation is, because flats have no permitted development rights for this work. A managing agent will want a drawing, the sound data at the nearest window, our insurance and often a licence for alterations.
Access second. If the outdoor unit cannot go at ground level, and in a mansion block it usually cannot, it goes on a bracket, in a light well or on a flat roof. Each of those brings its own equipment and sometimes a permit to put a tower on the pavement.
Hours third. Many blocks restrict noisy work to weekday daytime and some restrict it further. That is not a problem, but it does mean a two day job cannot be compressed into a Saturday, and anybody who tells you otherwise has not read the house rules.
What the congestion charge and parking add to your price
Nothing. The congestion charge is a daily figure for every day the van is inside the zone, and central London parking is either a suspended bay, a permit from the building or a meter for the length of the job. All of it is our cost of working here and none of it is a line on your quotation.
That is not a promise made for a website. Every quotation this company has issued this year, including one inside the zone, shows delivery costs of zero and carries no travel, congestion or parking line at all. The only additions any of them name are a fuse board, condensate pumps and pipework past what is included.
Noise, and the neighbour who has not been asked yet
In a terrace or a mansion block the outdoor unit is going to sit near somebody else's window, and that is the objection that stops more central London installations than price does. It is a solvable problem and the solution is arithmetic rather than persuasion: a modern inverter unit runs at 46 to 52 dB(A) at one metre on low fan, which is roughly a fridge, and sound falls off with distance and with anything solid in the way.
We take the sound pressure figure for the specific unit, the distance to the nearest habitable window and calculate what arrives there. That number is what goes in the consent pack, and it is the thing that makes a freeholder say yes.
What it costs in Central London
| Job | System | Installed price |
|---|---|---|
| One bedroom | 2.5kW single split | £2,400 to £3,200 |
| One double bedroom | 3.5kW single split | £2,550 to £3,500 |
| One living room | 5kW single split | £2,750 to £3,850 |
| Two rooms | 2 unit multi-split | £4,300 to £5,800 |
| Three rooms | 3 unit multi-split | £6,400 to £8,600 |
| Annual service | Any make | £95 plus VAT |
| Fault diagnosis | Any make | £89 plus VAT, waived if we repair |
Every figure on this site is an estimate built from the quotations we issued in 2026 and our own installation experience. It is not a quotation. The price you are given after the free survey is the price you pay.
The Central London boroughs we cover
Each of these has its own page with the local housing stock, the conservation area position and the postcodes inside it.
Everything we fit in Central London
In central London most of it is cooling, in flats and offices. Where there is a house or a roof of your own, the same engineers fit heat pumps, solar and batteries.
Split air conditioning
One room or the whole house. Domestic and commercial.
See what it costs
Air source heat pumps
Replaces the gas boiler. We take the 7,500 pound grant off your invoice.
Price my heat pump
Servicing and repair
Book a service
Ducted air conditioning
The unit sits in the ceiling void. Only the grilles show.
How it is fitted
Solar panels
Get a roof survey
Battery storage
See if it pays
Your estimate
£2,400to£3,200
Supplied, fitted, commissioned and certificated. Includes VAT.
Send this on WhatsAppPrice it for your address
The same model the rest of the site uses. The survey turns it into one fixed written price.
Last step: where do we send your written price?
Every figure on this site is an estimate built from the quotations we issued in 2026 and our own installation experience. It is not a quotation. The price you are given after the free survey is the price you pay.
Air conditioning in Central London: common questions
Do I need planning permission for air conditioning in central London?
If it is a flat, yes, always, regardless of the borough or how the unit is positioned. Flats do not have permitted development rights for this work.
If it is a house inside a conservation area, and most central London houses are, you keep permitted development rights but the unit cannot go on a wall or roof slope fronting a highway. If it is a listed building, listed building consent is needed as well as planning permission. Every condition is set out on the planning permission page.
Can you work in a mansion block with a porter and a licence for alterations?
Yes, and it is a large part of what we do in W1, SW1, SW3 and SW7. We prepare the pack the managing agent asks for at no charge: the drawing, the specification, the sound calculation at the nearest window, the method statement and our insurance.
We would rather do that before you have paid for anything, because the answer from the freeholder is what decides whether the job is worth starting.
Is there a congestion charge on top of the quote?
No. It is not added afterwards and it is not buried in the rate either: the price for a room in W1 is the price for the same room in N14. We pay the charge and the parking because that is what working in central London costs us, not you.
How quiet can you get the outdoor unit?
The best domestic units run at 46 to 52 dB(A) at one metre on their lowest fan speed. At four metres, which is a normal distance to a neighbour's window, that arrives at somewhere around 34 to 40 dB(A), below the level of a quiet room.
Anti-vibration mounts matter as much as the unit's own rating, because in a masonry building the complaint is usually about structure-borne hum rather than about air noise.
Free survey anywhere in Central London
Tell us the postcode and which rooms, and you get a written fixed price and an honest answer on whether it needs permission.
Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm, Saturday 10am to 3pm, Sunday closed
Page updated