Why Hertfordshire homes struggle in summer
The county's housing splits into two eras, and neither was built with hot summers in mind. The Victorian and Edwardian streets around St Albans city centre and Harpenden — solid brick, high ceilings, big sash windows — soak up heat all day and let it go slowly through the evening. A south-facing bedroom in one of these houses can still be uncomfortably warm at midnight. If that sounds familiar, our guide to air conditioning in Victorian homes covers what installation actually involves in period property.
Then there are the big 1930s commuter suburbs — Watford, Hemel Hempstead, the outer edges of St Albans — street after street of semis with wide south-facing bays and, increasingly, loft conversions used as home offices. Loft rooms are usually the hottest space in the house, and with so many people here working from home part of the week, that is where we hear the most frustration.
What to check before you get quotes
A modern split system is a reversible air-to-air heat pump: it cools in summer and heats efficiently in winter, which changes the sums on whether it is worth doing. Worth knowing, too, that current government heat pump grants are aimed at air-to-water systems, so air-to-air installations are generally not covered. A few things to look at before you talk to installers:
- Prices vary a lot with the property and the number of rooms, so treat any single headline figure with suspicion — our guide to air conditioning costs in the UK sets out realistic ranges and what pushes a job up or down.
- Older Hertfordshire homes sometimes need their electrics checked or upgraded before an installation can go ahead. A good installer will assess this early rather than springing it on you at the end.
- Parts of St Albans and Harpenden sit in conservation areas, and there are listed buildings across the county. Check with your council before fixing anything to an outside wall — a decent installer will help you work out where a unit can go.
- Flats and leasehold properties almost always need freeholder consent before an outdoor unit goes up.
Where Coolhouse is up to here
Hertfordshire is our home county and the one place we are properly live. St Albans and Harpenden have vetted installers working now, and we can usually match you quickly. Across the rest of the county — Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Hitchin and beyond — we are bringing installers on board town by town. Leave your details through our estimate tool and we will tell you straight whether we can match you yet, and if not, roughly when we expect to. No promise of a quote in minutes — just an honest answer from the place we know best.