Residential
Air con for homes & flatsResidential
Are air conditioning units noisy? What to expect
One of the first things people ask us is whether air conditioning is going to be noisy. It is a fair question. A lot of people…
Read guide →ResidentialAir conditioning for new builds and extensions
If you are building a new home or adding an extension, there is one bit of advice we give above all others: think about air conditioning…
Read guide →ResidentialWhere to position your air conditioning unit
Where you put the indoor and outdoor units is the single biggest thing that decides whether you love your air conditioning or quietly resent it. A…
Read guide →ResidentialMulti-split vs single split: which suits your home?
If you are putting air conditioning into more than one room, you will quickly run into a choice: single split or multi-split. It sounds technical but…
Read guide →ResidentialDucted air conditioning: is it worth it for your home?
Ducted air conditioning is the setup you never really see. No wall units, no boxes in the corner of the room, just slim grilles in the…
Read guide →ResidentialAir conditioning and allergies: how it improves your home air
If you or anyone in the house suffers with hay fever, dust allergies or just struggles to sleep when it is warm, air conditioning can do…
Read guide →ResidentialHow to choose the right air con for your home
Choosing air conditioning for your home should be one of the easier decisions you make about it — but with dozens of models, confusing kW ratings…
Read guide →ResidentialWhat home air conditioning really costs to run
Ask most people what air conditioning costs to run and they'll wince — there's a lingering belief that it's an energy-guzzling luxury that will send your…
Read guide →ResidentialWhich rooms benefit most from air conditioning
If you're adding air conditioning to your home but not treating every room at once, the obvious question is: where do you start? Spreading a budget…
Read guide →Cooling
Keeping cool when it countsCooling
Why your room isn’t cooling (and how to fix it)
It is one of the most common calls we take across the North-East. The air con is switched on, the fan is blowing and yet the…
Read guide →CoolingKeeping a conservatory cool in summer
A conservatory is a lovely room for about three weeks of the year. For the rest of summer it can be like sitting in a greenhouse,…
Read guide →CoolingSmart controls: getting the most from your air con
A modern air conditioning system is only as clever as the way you run it. Plenty of people leave theirs on a basic handset, switch it…
Read guide →CoolingHow air conditioning dehumidifies your home
Ask most people what air conditioning does and they will say it makes a room colder. True enough, but it is only half the story. A…
Read guide →CoolingThe best temperature to set your air conditioning
It is the question we get asked more than almost any other. What temperature should I actually set my air con to? People worry they are…
Read guide →CoolingAir conditioning vs fans: what actually cools a room
When a heatwave hits, the shops sell out of fans within days. They're cheap, they're familiar, and they do provide a bit of relief. But there's…
Read guide →CoolingSizing a unit: how many kW do you need?
Sizing is the most important decision in any air conditioning project, and the one most often got wrong. Get it right and your system is comfortable,…
Read guide →Heating
Warmth from your air conHeating
Heat pump vs gas boiler: which is cheaper to run?
It is the question we get asked more than any other on a quote visit. You have had a gas boiler keeping the house warm for…
Read guide →HeatingCan air conditioning replace central heating?
Say air conditioning to most people and they picture a cold office in summer. The idea that the same kit could heat your home through a…
Read guide →HeatingPreparing your air con for winter heating
Air conditioning in a British home does two jobs across the year. It keeps you cool through the warm months then switches round and heats you…
Read guide →HeatingHow air source heat pumps work in cold weather
There is a stubborn myth doing the rounds that heat pumps do not work when it gets cold. It sounds almost reasonable. How can you pull…
Read guide →HeatingAir con heating vs electric radiators: running costs compared
If your home runs on electricity for heat, the choice usually comes down to two routes. You can heat with direct electric, meaning plug-in radiators, panel…
Read guide →HeatingCutting winter bills with an air-source heat pump
With energy prices volatile and the cost of heating a home higher than most of us would like, more and more people are looking at their…
Read guide →HeatingAir con as heating: how heat pumps warm your home
Most people buy air conditioning to stay cool, then discover that the best thing about it is how well — and how cheaply — it heats.…
Read guide →Commercial
Offices, retail & industryCommercial
Reducing your business’s air conditioning energy bills
Air conditioning is often one of the larger lines on a business energy bill. It is also one of the most wasteful if it has been…
Read guide →CommercialAir conditioning for warehouses and industrial units
Conditioning a warehouse is a different trade from conditioning an office. Anyone who tells you otherwise has not had to cool one. The volumes are enormous.…
Read guide →CommercialAir conditioning for shops and retail
Walk into any shop on a busy Saturday and you can feel within seconds whether the climate has been thought about. A store that is a…
Read guide →CommercialAir conditioning for restaurants and commercial kitchens
A restaurant is really two climates sharing a building. On one side of the pass is the dining room, where guests have paid to be comfortable…
Read guide →CommercialA landlord’s guide to commercial air conditioning
If you own commercial property that you let to business tenants, the air conditioning in those units is more your concern than you might like it…
Read guide →CommercialOffice air conditioning: a buyer’s guide
A comfortable office is a productive office. Study after study shows that temperature has a direct effect on concentration, output and staff wellbeing — and that…
Read guide →CommercialKeeping server & comms rooms cool year-round
Server and comms rooms are unforgiving. The equipment inside runs around the clock, generates heat constantly, and fails expensively if it gets too hot. Unlike an…
Read guide →CommercialVRF vs split systems: which suits your site?
For any commercial air conditioning project, one of the first big decisions is the type of system: individual split systems, or a centralised VRF system. Both…
Read guide →HVAC
Systems, ventilation & air qualityHVAC
What the F-Gas phase-down means for refrigerants
If you own an air conditioning unit or a heat pump, there is a gas quietly circulating inside it that you probably never think about. That…
Read guide →HVACIndoor air quality: a complete guide
Most of us spend the great majority of our lives indoors, at home or at work, yet we tend to think about air quality only when…
Read guide →HVACMechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) explained
There is a puzzle at the centre of every well-built modern home. To save energy you want the building sealed tight so that expensive warmth does…
Read guide →HVACUnderstanding SEER and SCOP efficiency ratings
When you start looking at air conditioning units you quickly run into a wall of letters and numbers. There are energy labels with coloured bars, there…
Read guide →HVACAir conditioning and your carbon footprint
Air conditioning has a reputation as an energy hog, a luxury that runs up bills and emissions in equal measure. That reputation was earned by older…
Read guide →HVACWhat is HVAC? The basics explained
HVAC is one of those acronyms that gets used constantly in the building trade and almost never explained. If you've been quoted for an "HVAC system"…
Read guide →HVACVentilation & air quality in modern buildings
We've spent decades making buildings more airtight to save energy — and in doing so, we've created a new problem. A tightly sealed building keeps heat…
Read guide →Maintenance
Servicing, F-Gas & careMaintenance
How often should air conditioning be serviced?
It is the question we get asked more than any other here at Air Con North, and the honest answer is that it depends on how…
Read guide →MaintenanceSigns your air conditioning needs repair
Air conditioning rarely dies without warning. In our experience the units that break down completely almost always gave off signals for weeks or months beforehand, signals…
Read guide →MaintenanceHow to clean your air conditioning filters
If there is one bit of maintenance every air conditioning owner can and should do themselves, it is cleaning the filters. It takes a few minutes,…
Read guide →MaintenanceWhat happens during an air con service?
People often ask what they are actually paying for when they book an air conditioning service. It is a fair question. From the outside it can…
Read guide →MaintenanceCommercial air con maintenance contracts explained
For a business, air conditioning is rarely a luxury. It keeps staff comfortable and productive, keeps customers happy and, in places like server rooms or storage…
Read guide →MaintenanceWhy annual air con servicing matters
Air conditioning is one of those things that works so quietly in the background that it's easy to forget it needs looking after at all. But…
Read guide →MaintenanceF-Gas regulations explained for businesses
If your business runs air conditioning or refrigeration, there's a good chance it falls under F-Gas regulations — and that you have legal responsibilities you may…
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