Which Type of Air Conditioning System Is Right for Your Home?
Choosing the perfect air conditioning system for your home can feel like a big decision. The right choice depends on your property, budget, and how you plan to use the system. To help you decide, let's look at the most common and effective options for domestic use.
Domestic Split Air Conditioning Systems
This is the most popular choice for UK homeowners and the one we recommend most often. A split system is a permanent and highly efficient solution for cooling a single room or multiple areas of your home. It gets its name from being "split" into two main components:
The Indoor Unit: This sleek, quiet unit is discreetly mounted on a wall inside the room you want to cool. It takes in warm air, filters it, and circulates cool, conditioned air back into the space.
The Outdoor Unit: This unit houses the main components (like the compressor and condenser) and is installed outside on an exterior wall or on the ground. Its job is to expel the heat from your home, which is why it's crucial to place it in a location that won't disturb your neighbours.
The indoor and outdoor units are connected by a small set of pipes and cables, which are typically concealed in a neat trunking, ensuring a clean and tidy installation.
There are two main types of split systems:
Single-Split System: Perfect for targeting a single room, such as a conservatory, home office, or bedroom. One indoor unit is connected to one outdoor unit, providing powerful and efficient cooling exactly where you need it.
Multi-Split System: An excellent option for cooling multiple rooms at once. This system uses a single, powerful outdoor unit to connect to up to five indoor units in different rooms. Each indoor unit can be controlled independently, so you can cool the living room during the day and a bedroom at night without wasting energy.
Why Choose a Split System?
Exceptional Efficiency: Modern split systems use heat pump technology, which is incredibly efficient. Many models have high energy ratings (A++ or A+++), meaning they are significantly cheaper to run in the long term compared to portable units.
Heating and Cooling in One: Most split systems can also work in reverse to provide highly efficient heating, making them a fantastic, year-round climate control solution.
Whisper-Quiet Operation: With the noisiest components located in the outdoor unit, split systems are remarkably quiet inside your home, so you won't be disturbed while you work, relax, or sleep.
Improved Air Quality: Split systems often include advanced filtration to remove dust, allergens, and other pollutants, which can be a major benefit for people with allergies or hay fever.
