Conservatory air conditioning in Croydon
Does your Croydon conservatory empty out the moment the sun reaches it? We put reversible units into conservatories, glass extensions and garden rooms across the borough, from the big plots in Sanderstead and Shirley to the semis of Thornton Heath. It tames the afternoon glare and keeps the frost out of the room in winter.
Price a conservatory unit
Name, number and postcode. We ring you to go through it.
- Sized for the glass, not the floor
- Heating for the cold months
- Garden offices too
Can a conservatory be comfortable in July and January?
Much more than it is now, within the limits of glass. The Met Office's district averages for south-east England give July about 219 hours of sunshine and December about 54, which is the gap your room has to live with. Blinds and a roof treatment should come first, because they cut the load the unit has to fight. After that, a reversible system handles both ends of the year. Source: Met Office, district averages.
Why can't you size a conservatory from its floor area?
Because the usual tables assume solid walls. iHeat's guidance notes that large windows, particularly south-facing ones, push the required capacity up, and a conservatory is almost nothing but windows. A 15 square metre glass room facing south-west can need the capacity of a 25 square metre bedroom. We size from the glazing, the orientation, the roof type and the shading, not the floor. Source: iHeat. The size guide gives a first estimate.
Where does the unit go when the walls are glass?
On the house wall, almost always. It is the one solid surface, it is the strongest, and the pipes can usually drop straight through it or along it to an outdoor unit on the patio. Where a dwarf wall runs round the room, a floor-standing console unit can sit on it. The outdoor unit ends up at the rear, which in a conservation area is also where the planning rules are most relaxed.
What about a garden office?
Easier than a conservatory, if it is insulated. The difference is power: a garden building needs a supply that can carry the unit, and a new circuit to an outbuilding is notifiable electrical work under Part P. Think about the neighbours too. A garden office often sits a metre from the fence, which puts its outdoor unit close to someone else's patio and brings the sound calculation into play. Sources: IET; Grant UK.
Would a portable unit cope?
Rarely. A portable has to push hot air out through a hose, and a glass room gives it nowhere sensible to do that. On a south-facing afternoon it will run flat out and lose. We put the two side by side in portable against fixed.
Questions people ask
Does a conservatory unit need planning permission?
The same permitted development conditions apply as for any heat pump on a house, position and noise included. A listed house, or a road-facing spot in a conservation area, means an application.
Will it stop condensation in winter?
Warming the air and keeping it moving usually reduces it. A failed roof seal or a leak needs fixing first, because no unit will keep up with a wet room.
My conservatory is twenty years old. Is it worth it?
Only if the roof and the glazing are sound. We will say so at the survey if we think the money is better spent on those first.
Where these facts come from
Useful to have ready
With these we can give you a straight answer on the first call.
- Your postcode
- Flat, house or business premises
- Who owns the outside wall, if you lease or rent
- Which room, roughly how big, and which way the window faces
- Any conservation area or listing you know of
Conservatory air conditioning beyond Croydon
After conservatory air conditioning somewhere nearby? We cover the towns below, and each page explains its own planning position. The full picture is on our air conditioning in Croydon page.
Conservatory air conditioning in Bromley
Conservatory air conditioning in Sutton
Conservatory air conditioning in Mitcham
Conservatory air conditioning in Streatham
Conservatory air conditioning in Beckenham
Conservatory air conditioning in Coulsdon
Conservatory air conditioning in Banstead
Conservatory air conditioning in Sydenham
Before you decide
Which size of air conditioner is right for the room?
A room size table, the adjustments that matter, and why bigger is not better.
How much does air conditioning cost?
Unit prices, labour, electrics, running costs and the extras flats add.
Portable or fixed: which air conditioning should you buy?
A fair comparison, including when the portable wins.
Related work
Air conditioning installation
A survey, a written price, then units, pipework and electrics fitted properly.
Home air conditioning
Bedrooms, top-floor flats and loft rooms, with heating thrown in.
Air-to-air heat pumps
Cheaper warmth than a plug-in heater, and cooling from the same box.
Multi-split air conditioning
Two to four rooms from one outdoor unit, each on its own controller.
Elsewhere on this site
Office air conditioning
For offices where people, screens and south-facing glass make the heat.
Commercial air conditioning
Shops, cafés, salons, bars and restaurants, with the flats upstairs in mind.
Server room cooling
A unit of its own for the rack, sized from the power the kit draws.
Air conditioning servicing
A yearly check on any make, with the legal leak test where it applies.
Air conditioning repairs
Stopped cooling, dripping, iced up or flashing a code: diagnosed first.
Prefer a call back?
Leave your postcode and a line about the room, and we ring you. Or ring 020 8194 3009.