Home air conditioning cost in 2026
Hotter UK summers are moving air conditioning up the home improvement list, and what was a luxury a decade ago is fast becoming a mainstream upgrade. A single-room split system costs £1,750 to £2,250 fitted, and the price turns less on the unit itself than on where it goes and the work to get it there.
Typical cost
£1,750 to £2,250
a split system in one room, supplied and fitted
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Air Conditioning prices in 2026
| Job | Typical cost | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Single room split system | £1,750 to £2,250 | One indoor unit and one outdoor unit, installed. |
| The indoor unit on its own | About £750 | A 12,000 BTU wall-mounted unit. |
| Installation | About £1,150 | Typically four to eight hours for a single room. |
| Running cost | 20p to 60p per hour | Varies with the system, its age, its efficiency and how you use it. |
Ranges, not quotes. Every job is priced on the property, so treat these as the bracket your quotes should land in rather than a figure to hold an installer to.
What shapes your quote
Number of rooms
One outdoor unit can serve several indoor heads in a multi-split. Adding rooms later costs more than doing them in one visit.
Pipe run and the outdoor unit
Where the condenser can go, and how far that is from the room being cooled, drives much of the labour.
Making good
Core drilling, trunking and redecoration are part of the job. Ask for them itemised rather than assumed.
Where you are
Rates run highest in London and the South.
Heating as well as cooling
Most modern split systems are reversible: the same unit heats the room in winter, which turns a summer purchase into a year-round one.
F-gas certification
Whoever handles the refrigerant has to be F-gas certified. That is a legal requirement rather than a credential to shop around on, so it is a fair thing to ask before comparing quotes.
What to check before you sign
The quote is only half the picture. These are the checks that keep the price honest and the installation tidy.
- ✓Making good - core drilling, trunking and any redecoration - should be itemised on the quote, not assumed.
- ✓Whoever handles the refrigerant must be F-gas certified. It is a legal requirement, so it is fair to ask.
- ✓Budget 20p to 60p an hour to run, depending on the unit, its age and how hard you drive it.
- ✓Comparing finance? Look at the total repayable, not the monthly figure.
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Air Conditioning questions, answered
- How much does home air conditioning cost?
- A split system in a single room runs about £1,750 to £2,250 fitted. Roughly £750 of that is the indoor unit and about £1,150 is the installation.
- Which rooms are worth doing first?
- Bedrooms usually top the list, because sleep is the first thing a heatwave ruins, followed by south-facing living rooms, lofts and home offices. If more than one room is on the list, a multi-split serves them from one outdoor unit and the second room costs far less than the first.
- What does air conditioning cost to run?
- Between 20p and 60p an hour, depending on the system, its efficiency, its age and how hard you run it.
- How long does installation take?
- A single-room installation is usually four to eight hours.
- Can I get air conditioning quotes on WhatDeal?
- Yes. Tell us which rooms and whether you want heating too, and up to three trusted installers quote for the work, free and with no obligation.
Where the money goes in a quote
A single-room split system runs £1,750 to £2,250 fitted, and the split inside that number surprises people: roughly £750 is the indoor unit and about £1,150 is the installation. The labour is the job, which is why quotes move with the things that make labour longer: where the outdoor condenser can sit, and how far the pipework has to travel from it to the room being cooled.
The other line worth insisting on is making good. Core drilling through the wall, trunking to hide the pipe run and any redecoration are part of a tidy installation, and they should be itemised on the quote rather than assumed. Rates also run highest in London and the South, so the same system carries different labour in different postcodes.
Buy it in the cool months
Air conditioning is the most seasonal purchase in the home. The first hot week of the year books installers out, tightens unit stock and firms up quotes, because every enquiry wants the same fortnight. The same job arranged in autumn, winter or spring gets a survey within days, a choice of dates and a keener price.
Buying off-season also gives the job room to be done properly: the room list decided calmly rather than in a heatwave, making good scheduled instead of squeezed in, and the system commissioned and tested before the first hot day rather than during it.
One room now, or the house in one visit
Air conditioning scales the way plumbing does: the expensive part is being set up at your house at all. A multi-split runs several indoor units from one outdoor condenser, so the second and third rooms cost far less than the first, and adding rooms later, with a fresh visit, fresh pipework and possibly a bigger condenser, costs more than doing them in one go.
That does not mean conditioning rooms you will never cool. It means deciding the full list of rooms honestly at the survey, and asking for the quote broken down per room, so you can see what each one adds and trim the list with real numbers in front of you rather than guesses.
F-gas, and what installation day involves
The refrigerant that makes the system work is a controlled gas, and whoever handles it must be F-gas certified. That is a legal requirement rather than a badge to shop around on, which makes it a fair, easy question to ask before comparing quotes any further, and a firm that hesitates has answered it.
A single-room installation usually takes four to eight hours: the indoor unit on the wall, the condenser outside, pipework and cabling between them through a cored hole, a condensate route for the water the unit pulls out of the air, then pressure testing, commissioning and a walkthrough of the controls. Multi-room jobs run longer, but the shape of the day is the same.
Air Conditioning guides & advice
Browse all guides →Air conditioning or fans: what actually cools a room
A fan moves air; air conditioning lowers the temperature. When a fan is enough, when it is not, and what a fitted split system really changes.
Read the guide →
What air conditioning really costs to run in the UK
Home air conditioning costs roughly 20p to 60p an hour to run. What decides where you land in that range, and the habits that keep a cool house cheap.
Read the guide →
Split system or portable unit: the honest comparison
A portable air conditioner costs a few hundred pounds and a fitted split system £1,750 to £2,250. What each is really like to live with.
Read the guide →
Multi-split air conditioning: cooling several rooms from one unit
A multi-split runs several indoor units from one outdoor condenser, so the second room costs far less than the first. How to plan the room list.
Read the guide →
Air conditioning installation: what actually happens
A single-room air conditioning installation takes four to eight hours. The survey, the day itself, the F-gas rule and what a good quote itemises.
Read the guide →
How noisy is air conditioning? What to expect, inside and out
Modern split systems run at a quiet hum indoors and placement decides the rest. The noise to expect inside and out, and how installers keep it down.
Read the guide →
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Prices and grant rules change. Checked August 2026, and worth confirming the grant details on GOV.UK before you commit to anything.