Air conditioning in Ealing

Victorian Ealing, interwar suburbs

Ealing Council's own history notes that the town of Ealing had become a desirable place to live by the late 1800s, as the railways arrived. Ealing, West Ealing, Hanwell and Acton have many Victorian and Edwardian terraces and villas. In these, the outdoor unit usually goes at the back, on the ground or the back-addition wall, with pipes routed through the rear rooms.

Greenford and Perivale were small villages until after the First World War, and grew with the factories of the 1920s and 1930s. Northolt joined Ealing in 1928 and saw council housing built after the Second World War. Semi-detached houses here usually have a side wall and a decent rear wall to work with. That makes a multi-split, cooling three or four bedrooms from one outdoor unit, a good fit.

Flats near the stations

Ealing has five Elizabeth line stations: Acton Main Line, Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, Hanwell and Southall. Blocks of new flats have gone up around several of them. In a flat, you need the freeholder's consent first. National rules allow only one heat pump per block of flats as permitted development, with an outdoor unit no bigger than 0.6 m³, so a balcony or a shared plant area is often the answer.

Planning and conservation areas in Ealing

Planning questions go to Ealing Council. For an unlisted house, a unit that heats as well as cools can often go in without planning permission under the national rules, if it meets the size, position and noise limits. Cooling-only units, listed buildings and street-facing walls in conservation areas need permission.

The council's conservation area pages list 30 areas, and it approved a new Lammas Park conservation area in November 2025. Six have Article 4 directions. The council says that in most of these, planning permission is needed for all residential extensions and minor alterations, as well as porches, exterior painting and hardstandings. If your home is on one of these estates, assume an outdoor unit needs permission and check with the council first.

• Brentham Garden Estate, designated in 1969 with an Article 4 direction from 1976
• Hanger Hill Garden Estate
• Hanger Hill (Haymills) Estate, mostly built between 1928 and 1939
• Bedford Park, on the Acton side
• Ealing Town Centre (The Grove)
• Churchfields (Half Acre Road) in Hanwell

Other conservation areas we work in

Outside the Article 4 estates, the usual conservation area rule applies: no unit on a wall or roof facing a road without permission. A unit at the back is often fine. We check your street at the survey.

• Ealing Common, Ealing Green, Haven Green and Mount Park
• Brunswick, Creffield, Montpelier Park and St Stephen's
• Grange and White Ledges and Ealing Cricket Ground
• Acton Green, Acton Park, Acton Town Centre and Mill Hill Park
• Hanwell Clock Tower, Hanwell Village Green, Cuckoo Estate and Hanwell Cemeteries
• Canalside and Norwood Green in Southall, and Northolt Village Green

Offices, shops and industrial units

We fit wall units and ceiling cassettes for offices and shops in Ealing Broadway, Acton and Southall, and service and repair existing systems in business hours. Units on the industrial estates around Park Royal, Perivale and Greenford often need cooling for offices, server rooms or staff areas. We size each system from the heat load, not just the floor area.

Parking and access for engineers

Ealing has over 60 controlled parking zones, from Central Ealing and Ealing Broadway to Acton Town, Southall, Perivale and Northolt. Hours vary by street, so we check the signs before the visit.

Where a bay suspension is needed, Ealing charges £39 per bay per day with at least 7 working days' notice, or £50 with at least 3. In resident bays the suspension applies all day, every day. We apply for it and show the fee on your quote. Ealing is outside the Congestion Charge zone. The ULEZ covers all of London.

Prices in Ealing

Our standard prices. Home prices include VAT and business prices are plus VAT. Long pipe runs, access equipment and planning drawings are quoted after the survey.

• 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

• Two rooms, one outdoor unit

  Multi-split

  from£3,650inc. VAT

• Three rooms

  Multi-split

  from£5,100inc. VAT

• Commercial wall unit

  Fitted in business hours

  from£1,795+ VAT

• Ceiling cassette

  In a suitable suspended ceiling

  from£2,750+ VAT

Neighbourhoods we cover

We work across the borough, including the W3, W5, W7 and W13 postcodes, Bedford Park in W4, UB1, UB2, UB5, UB6 and the Ealing side of Park Royal in NW10:

• Ealing Broadway, Ealing Common and South Ealing
• West Ealing, Northfields and Pitshanger
• Acton, East Acton, West Acton and South Acton
• Hanwell
• Southall and Norwood Green
• Greenford, Perivale and Northolt

Ealing questions