Air conditioning in Cuffley

A railway village on the ridge

The Northaw and Cuffley Neighbourhood Plan explains that Cuffley was a smaller place than Northaw, a few houses and farms around The Plough, until the Great Northern Railway arrived in 1910. By 1935 houses had grown up near the station and large detached houses were spreading along The Ridgeway. By 1971 the village had its present layout, and since then it has changed mainly through infill and rebuilding.

The village sits along a ridgeline and an east-facing slope down to Cuffley Brook, with Northaw Great Wood to the north and the railway embankment to the east. The station is on the Hertford Loop, with trains north via Hertford to Stevenage and south via Enfield into London.

Remembered for the airship

On 3 September 1916 Captain William Leefe Robinson brought down the German airship SL11 over Cuffley. The memorial on East Ridgeway, unveiled on 9 June 1921, calls it the first German airship destroyed on British soil. The neighbourhood plan notes that, apart from this memorial, Cuffley has no listed buildings, because the village mostly grew after 1910.

Cuffley homes and what they mean for an install

The ONS counts about 4,350 people in the Cuffley built-up area (Census 2021). About 72 per cent of homes are detached houses or bungalows, and 14 per cent are flats.

Planning: Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

Cuffley has an EN6 postcode like Potters Bar, but it is in Welwyn Hatfield, not Hertsmere, so planning goes to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council. A heating-capable outdoor unit on a house is often permitted development if it is not used only for cooling, is no bigger than 1.5 m³ and passes the MCS 020(a) noise check of 37 dB(A) at neighbours' windows. A detached house can have two heat pumps, a semi or terrace one.

Cuffley itself has no conservation area, so for most houses the main thing is the noise check. On a detached house with a wide side passage, that usually means keeping the unit away from the neighbour's windows and doors. Our planning guide sets out every rule.

Northaw and its conservation area

Northaw, the parish's other village, is small, rural and in the Green Belt. The neighbourhood plan describes it as triangular in plan, with houses around the church of St Thomas a Becket and the village green. It has a conservation area and 28 listed buildings close to the church, including the grade II* church, Northaw Place and the Dower House.

In a conservation area a unit can't go on a wall or roof facing the road without planning permission, and a listed building needs listed building consent. In Northaw we look for a rear or garden position and check the building's listing before we quote.

New homes in Cuffley

The Welwyn Hatfield Local Plan 2016–2036 allocates five sites in Cuffley: 36 The Ridgeway (HS26, about 6 homes), land at The Meadway (HS27, about 60), land south of Northaw Road East (HS28, about 121), land north of Northaw Road East (HS29, about 73) and Wells Farm on Northaw Road East (HS30, about 75). Several sites must mitigate railway noise. If you buy one of the new homes, check its planning conditions before adding an outdoor unit.

Shops, businesses and parking

Station Road is Cuffley's high street, with independent shops, restaurants and services, and Sopers Road is the village's employment area. We fit and service wall units, ceiling cassettes and multi-split systems for shops, offices, clinics and workshops, in business hours.

The neighbourhood plan notes that most Cuffley houses have driveways and park off the street, which makes install day simple. On Station Road and near the shops, tell us when you book and we'll plan where the van unloads.

What air conditioning costs in Cuffley

Our starting prices are the same here as across Hertfordshire and London. Home prices include VAT. Business prices are plus VAT. The survey gives you a fixed written price.

• A bedroom or study

  2.5 kW wall unit, 5 m pipe, fitted in a day

  from£1,850inc. VAT

• A living room

  3.5 kW wall unit

  from£2,050inc. VAT

• Open plan or a loft

  5 kW wall unit

  from£2,450inc. VAT

• Three rooms

  Multi-split

  from£5,100inc. VAT

• Four rooms

  Multi-split

  from£6,500inc. VAT

• Ducted, per zone

  Hidden in the ceiling, survey needed

  from£4,950inc. VAT

• Commercial wall unit

  Fitted in business hours

  from£1,795+ VAT

• An annual service

  Keeps the manufacturer warranty valid

  from£119inc. VAT

Areas and postcodes we cover

We cover the whole parish and the places around it, including:

• EN6: Cuffley, from The Ridgeway and Tolmers Road to Station Road and Hanyards Lane
• EN6: Northaw and the lanes around Northaw Great Wood
• Nearby: Goffs Oak and Cheshunt (Broxbourne), Potters Bar, Enfield and Hertford

Cuffley questions