Air Conditioning Installation Birmingham: F-Gas Fitters

In July 2022 the Midlands set a new temperature record of 40.2°C at Pitsford in Northamptonshire, beating the previous regional high by 3.1°C. Upper-floor flats and loft bedrooms are the first rooms in a Birmingham home to become hard to sleep in during a hot spell like that.

One in five Birmingham households lives in a purpose-built block of flats, and those homes are where most cooling requests come from.

Birmingham at a glance

Types of home: 35.6% of Birmingham households live in a semi-detached house, 27.8% in a terrace and 21.0% in a purpose-built block of flats. Only 11.2% live in a detached house. Source
Heat pump planning: One air source heat pump of up to 1.5 cubic metres is usually permitted development on a house, and up to 0.6 cubic metres on a block of flats. Listed buildings need consent, and in conservation areas the unit cannot face a highway. Source

Do the cheap things first

External blinds, reflective film on west-facing glass and opening windows at night often bring a room down by a few degrees. If that isn't enough, a wall-mounted split unit is quieter and far more efficient than a portable one.

Consider an air-to-air heat pump rather than a cooling-only unit. It heats in winter too, and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme gives £2,500 towards one when it replaces fossil fuel heating.

Permission for the outdoor unit

Air conditioning has no permitted development right of its own, so ask Birmingham City Council's planning team about the condenser before you pay a deposit, especially in a conservation area or on a listed building.

Leaseholders in blocks almost always need the freeholder's written consent to fix anything to an outside wall or balcony.

Who can fit it

Only an engineer with F-Gas certification may handle the refrigerant. Ask for their certificate and the company's F-Gas registration number before work starts, and expect a dedicated electrical circuit to be part of the quote.

Expect the installer to pressure test the pipework, pull a vacuum before releasing refrigerant and give you a commissioning sheet. Keep it, since manufacturers often ask for it on a warranty claim.

Cooling different Birmingham homes

Tower blocks and city-centre apartments

High-rise flats often can't take an outside unit at all. Ask the managing agent first, and if the answer is no, look at through-wall units or better shading.

Victorian and Edwardian red brick terraces

A loft conversion is usually the hot room. The condenser can sit on the flat roof of the dormer or in the back yard, with pipes run inside a cupboard.

Interwar semis in the outer suburbs

A side wall away from the neighbour's bedroom window is the obvious spot. Keep the unit off the shared boundary to avoid noise complaints.

Areas covered

Engineers who cover Birmingham work across areas including Edgbaston, Moseley, Kings Heath, Harborne, Erdington, Selly Oak, Hall Green, Sutton Coldfield, Acocks Green and Handsworth.

View Birmingham on Google Maps

Questions people in Birmingham ask

Is a portable unit good enough?

For one room in a short hot spell, perhaps. They are noisy, and the exhaust hose leaks warm air back through the window gap.

How much power does a split unit use?

A modern inverter split system cooling one room uses far less than a portable unit doing the same job. Ask the installer for the unit's seasonal efficiency rating so you can compare models.

Sources

Also nearby: Air conditioning installation in Coventry, Air conditioning installation in Wolverhampton, Air conditioning installation in Leicester, Air conditioning installation in Derby

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