Kitchen air conditioning

Why kitchens get so hot

A kitchen stacks up heat from every direction. The oven and hob, the dishwasher, the fridge pumping heat out of their backs, and often a big glazed wall or roof lantern facing the sun. Modern open-plan kitchen-diners make it worse in one way, because the heat spreads into the room where you sit and eat, and better in another, because one well-placed system can look after the whole space.

In a commercial kitchen the load is far higher. Cooking lines run for hours, and the air carries fat and moisture as well as heat. The answer is different for each, so this page covers both.

Home kitchens and kitchen-diners

For most homes, a wall-mounted split is the right choice: compact, quiet and easy to control from a remote or app. In an open-plan room we size the unit for the whole space, including the dining and seating area and any glazing, rather than just the kitchen footprint. If you want nothing on the walls and have a ceiling void, a ducted unit is an option.

A single room split costs £1,200 to £2,200 + VAT, including supply, installation, commissioning and F-Gas paperwork. If you are cooling the kitchen and other rooms too, a multi-split for two rooms is £2,800 to £4,500 + VAT, and three to five rooms £4,500 to £8,500 + VAT.

Where the unit goes

Siting is the most important part of a kitchen install. We keep the indoor unit away from the hob and oven, so it is not drawing in cooking fumes and steam, and away from where cupboards, shelves or an extractor hood would block its airflow. High on a wall facing along the room usually works best. We also think about where the air lands: you do not want cold air falling on the dining table or the person at the sink.

Condensate (the water the unit removes from the air) needs a drain. In kitchens there is often a waste pipe nearby, which makes this easy. Where there is not, we fit a small pump. Our article on condensate pumps explains how they work.

Cooking residue, filters and cleaning

Even with a good cooker hood, a kitchen unit picks up more cooking residue than one in a bedroom. The filters can clog and the coil can get sticky, which cuts airflow and can cause smells. Most indoor units have washable filters that lift out in a minute. In a busy kitchen, check them every few weeks in summer and rinse them when they look dull. Our guide on cleaning air conditioning filters shows how.

A yearly service (£95 to £150 + VAT) covers the deeper clean of the coil, fan and drain, plus checks on the refrigerant circuit and controls.

Humidity and heating

When an air conditioning unit cools, it also takes moisture out of the air, which helps with steamy kitchens and misted windows. Many units have a dry mode for damp days. Most systems are also heat pumps, so the same unit heats the room in winter. The Energy Saving Trust notes that air-to-air heat pumps are sometimes referred to as air conditioning. VAT on domestic installs depends on HMRC’s rules for heat pumps, and we confirm the VAT on your quote.

Planning, electrics and the outdoor unit

The outdoor unit needs a spot with good airflow and a short, tidy pipe run to the kitchen. That is often a side or rear wall, a flat roof or the garden. We will show you the options on the survey. Cooling-only air conditioning is not covered by the permitted development rules for heat pumps, so in some cases you may need to check with the council, and listed buildings always need separate consent. Our article on planning permission for air conditioning explains the rules.

The unit usually needs its own electrical circuit. As an NICEIC approved company we fit and certify it as part of the job, so there is no separate electrician to book.

Running it day to day

Kitchens change temperature quickly. The room can be cool at breakfast and hot by the time dinner is on. Set a sensible temperature and leave the unit in auto mode rather than switching it on and off, and close the doors to rooms you are not cooling. Many units have a timer or an app, so you can have the room comfortable before you start cooking.

Commercial kitchens

In a restaurant, hotel or school kitchen, air conditioning can make a real difference to staff, but it has limits. The unit must be well away from the cooking line, it needs frequent filter cleaning, and it cannot do the job of kitchen ventilation, which removes fumes, heat and moisture and brings in make-up air. That ventilation is a separate, specialist system. We focus on comfort cooling for the people: in the kitchen where it suits, at the pass, in prep rooms, offices and staff areas. See restaurant air conditioning for front-of-house.

For commercial work we install out of hours, provide F-Gas records and can include the unit in a maintenance contract with more frequent filter cleans. Commercial work is priced after survey.