Air conditioning in Ealing

Ealing Council has 29 conservation areas, including the Brentham Garden Estate, Ealing Common, Ealing Green and parts of Bedford Park, which crosses into Hounslow. Outside those, most houses can take one heat pump outdoor unit under permitted development if it also heats, sits within the size limit, is not on a pitched roof, and passes the 37 dB(A) noise calculation at the neighbour's window. On a street facing wall outside a conservation area, it must be at ground floor level only. Flats, cooling only units and listed buildings need an application.

Many Ealing households work from home in a back bedroom, a loft room or a garden office. Garden offices are often timber or insulated panel buildings with large glazed doors, and they heat up fast in the afternoon sun. A small split system with a short pipe run is usually all they need, and it gives heating in winter too. The power supply to the garden building needs checking, because a new circuit is notifiable under Part P and must be done by a registered electrician or signed off by building control.

A 1930s semi has a side passage or rear wall that suits an outdoor unit, and the internal layout makes pipe runs to the back bedrooms straightforward. Many owners choose a reversible system that heats the living room and bedrooms in spring and autumn, which takes some load off the gas boiler. If heating is a main aim, the system needs to be sized for winter, not only for summer cooling.

Around Ealing Broadway and Acton there are mansion flats, converted houses and new blocks near the Elizabeth line stations. For flats, permitted development applies to the whole block and allows one unit, so most flat owners need a planning application plus freeholder consent. Newer blocks often have building managers who set the rules. Where no outdoor unit is allowed, an all in one wall unit or a portable are the usual alternatives.

For the Brentham Garden Estate and other conservation areas in the borough, check the council's conservation area guidance for your street before you choose a unit position, because some areas have extra controls on alterations.