Air Conditioning for Period and Victorian Homes

Working with the fabric

Solid brick walls, lath and plaster, suspended timber floors and ornate cornicing all shape where pipework can sensibly run. The good news is that period houses usually have plenty of route options: floor voids, chimney breasts, cupboards and rear elevations.

We plan routes to avoid cutting into decorative plasterwork or original joinery wherever there is an alternative.

Conservation areas and listed buildings

Parts of Carshalton, particularly around the ponds and older village core, sit within conservation areas. Street-facing external plant is restricted, and listed buildings need consent for external alterations.

A rear or side elevation position almost always solves it. We identify the constraint at survey rather than after the fact.

• Rear and side elevations for outdoor units
• Listed building consent for any external alteration
• Conservation area restrictions on street frontages
• Colour-matched trunking where external runs are unavoidable

Keeping it discreet inside

High wall mounting above picture rails, units chosen in the least obtrusive finish, and pipework concealed in floor voids from a first-floor room keep the intervention minimal.

Where a room has no acceptable wall position, a floor-standing unit in an alcove or a ducted unit in a cupboard can work.

Why period homes benefit

Solid walls with limited insulation swing hot and cold. Single-glazed sash windows and large south-facing bays create strong solar gain. A heat pump handles both directions, and in winter it warms rooms that radiators struggle with.

Because these houses often have poorly heated top floors, the heating side is frequently valued more than the cooling.