Air conditioning for period homes and listed buildings
We’re based in Lavenham, one of the best-preserved medieval villages in England, where a large share of homes are listed and timber-framed. Working around old buildings is everyday work for us. Our engineers know how to keep modern cooling and heating discreet and avoid harming the fabric that makes these homes special.
Book a free survey →0330 043 7537Discreet unit placement
The outdoor unit is usually the biggest concern. At the survey we look for:
- Out-of-sight positions: rear elevations, courtyards, behind garden walls, outbuildings or low-level ground mounts rather than street-facing walls.
- Sympathetic pipe routes: running pipework internally, through existing voids, or along discreet lines, and avoiding historic timbers, lath and plaster, pargeting and brickwork where we can.
- Indoor units that suit the room: positions chosen to sit quietly alongside beams and period features.
- Condensate and electrics: routed neatly so nothing is left exposed.
Listed building consent and planning
Whether you need consent depends on the building, its listing and where equipment goes. Installing units or drilling through historic fabric on a listed building often needs listed building consent, and conservation areas can have extra planning controls on what’s visible from the street.
We advise; we don’t apply. At the survey we’ll tell you what’s likely to need consent or planning permission from your council (for example Babergh, Mid Suffolk, West Suffolk, Ipswich Borough or Colchester City Council), and we can provide equipment details, positions and photos to support your application. You or your architect/agent submit any application, and we install once you have the go-ahead. If in doubt, speak to your council’s conservation officer before work starts.
Cold. Heat.
Perfected.
Conservation areas we work in
Lavenham, Long Melford, Clare, Hadleigh, Kersey, Cavendish, central Bury St Edmunds and Sudbury all have conservation areas and many listed buildings. See our home Lavenham page.
Heat pumps in older homes
Many period and rural homes are off the gas grid. We fit air-to-air and air-to-water heat pumps; on air-to-water jobs our plumbing partner does the water side. We’ll be honest at survey about whether a heat pump suits your home.
What it costs
Single-room domestic installs start from £1,300, and domestic installs are zero-rated for VAT. Period properties can need longer pipe runs or more careful work, so we give a fixed written quote after the free survey. See prices.
How we work.
- 01
Free survey
In person or by video, at a time that suits you.
- 02
Fixed price after survey
A written quote once we have seen the space.
- 03
Installed by our own engineers
F-Gas certified, tidy, and finished properly.
- 04
Aftercare & Comfort Club
Servicing that keeps your system running well.
Rated five stars on Google.
Read our Google reviews →FAQs
Can you fit air conditioning in a listed building?
Often, yes, with careful positioning. We’ll advise on what’s likely to need consent, but you or your agent make the application.
Do you submit listed building consent applications?
No. We advise and can supply equipment details and photos, but the application is made by you or your agent.
Can you fit air conditioning in a thatched cottage?
Often, yes. We take extra care over where the outdoor unit and pipework go.
Ready
when you are.
Free survey, in person or by video. Mon–Fri, 8am–5pm.
Book a free survey →hello@akita.ac