Air conditioning in Enfield

Edwardian and interwar suburbs

Much of southern Enfield grew as railway suburbs. The council's appraisal of the Lakes Estate in Palmers Green describes Edwardian semi-detached pairs built between 1904 and 1914, and notes that the nearby Meadway Estate in Southgate was developed in the 1920s. Around Broomfield Park, the appraisal describes detached and semi-detached houses of Edwardian, interwar and post-war dates.

In the 2021 Census, 25 per cent of Enfield households lived in a semi-detached house and 29 per cent in a terraced house, against 19 and 21 per cent across London. A semi usually has a side wall or rear wall where the outdoor unit sits out of view of the street. One outdoor unit can then run a multi-split, cooling three or four rooms.

In a terrace, the outdoor unit usually goes at the back, on the ground or on the back-addition wall. 30 per cent of households live in a purpose-built flat, where you need the freeholder's consent first and national rules allow only one heat pump per block as permitted development.

Planning in Enfield

Planning questions go to Enfield Council. The council is replacing its Core Strategy and Development Management Document with a new Enfield Local Plan, which it submitted for examination in August 2024. Check the council's Local Plan page for its current status if a policy matters to your project.

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 walls facing the road in a conservation area need permission. Our planning guide explains the rules in full.

Conservation areas and Article 4 directions

The council says Enfield has 22 conservation areas. Many have Article 4 directions on some or all of their streets, made in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and, for Enfield Town, 2017. The 2006 direction, for example, lists named addresses and covers alterations to elevations facing or visible from a road or open space, such as windows, doors, roofs and porches.

If your home is covered, plan the outdoor unit for the back of the house and check with the council first. The council's page for each conservation area has a map of the Article 4 streets. We check your address at the survey.

• Enfield Town, Forty Hill, Clay Hill and Vicars Moor Lane
• Bush Hill Park, Grange Park and Winchmore Hill
• Southgate Green, Southgate Circus, Meadway and The Crescent
• The Lakes Estate in Palmers Green, and Abbotshall Avenue
• Hadley Wood, Trent Park and Highlands
• Enfield Lock, Turkey Street and Ponders End Flour Mills
• Church Street and Fore Street in Edmonton, and Montagu Road Cemeteries

Shops, offices and industrial units

Enfield Town is the borough's major centre, with district centres at Edmonton Green, Angel Edmonton, Palmers Green and Southgate. We fit wall units and ceiling cassettes for shops, offices and restaurants there, in business hours, and service and repair existing systems.

The Lee Valley side of the borough has large industrial areas, including Brimsdown, Innova Park in Freezywater, the Great Cambridge Road industrial area and the Central Leeside business area around Montagu and the Eley's Estate. Units there 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

Enfield has controlled parking zones in parts of the borough, including event-day zones around Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and is consulting on more. Hours vary by zone, so we check the signs before the visit.

For building works, the council offers a temporary dispensation to park in a restricted area at £10 per vehicle for one week. It doesn't guarantee a space. Full bay suspensions need at least 10 working days' notice and carry a £145 admin fee plus a daily charge per space. We arrange what the job needs and show the fee on your quote.

Enfield is outside the Congestion Charge zone. TfL's ULEZ covers all London boroughs, including Enfield.

Prices in Enfield

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 EN1, EN3, N9 and N21, most of EN2, N13, N14 and N18, and the Enfield parts of EN4 and N11:

• Enfield Town, Gordon Hill, Chase Side and Forty Hill
• Bush Hill Park, Grange Park and Winchmore Hill
• Southgate, Oakwood, Cockfosters and Hadley Wood
• Palmers Green and Bowes Park
• Edmonton, Edmonton Green and Upper Edmonton
• Ponders End, Enfield Wash, Enfield Lock and Brimsdown

Enfield questions