The UK Home Cooling Checker
Know exactly how to cool your home
before you speak to an installer.
A straight, property-specific answer: how hot it really gets, the right system to fix it, what it should cost, and the planning rules that apply.
- MCS & F-Gas installers
- One vetted installer
- No cold-calling
Vetted to the standards that matter
Why UK homes overheat
Built to keep heat in - now trapping it
UK homes were designed for cold winters, not 40°C summers. Top-floor flats, south-facing rooms, poor ventilation and dense city streets turn a heatwave into a health issue - and a fan and an open window stop being enough by late June.
~55%
of UK homes already fail the overheating criterion behind Part O
~5%
of UK homes have any cooling installed today
40.3°C
UK record high (July 2022) - heatwaves are the new normal
What your cooling plan tells you
Four answers, specific to your property
Every answer shows its working - because trust, not a sales pitch, is the point.
Overheating risk
A 0–100 score for how exposed your home is to summer heat, with the exact factors behind it.
The right system
Air-to-air heat pump or air conditioning - matched to your property, cooling first.
An honest cost
A realistic install range and what you would actually pay, including any grant you qualify for.
Planning rules
Permitted development or full planning - and exactly when to confirm with your council.
Two honest paths
Replace your heating, or just add cooling
Which one fits your home changes everything - the system, the cost, and whether the £2,500 grant is even in play. We are straight about both.
Air-to-air heat pump
Replace your fossil-fuel heating and one system does both jobs - near-silent, room-by-room.
- £2,500 grant when it replaces fossil-fuel heating
- Fitted by an MCS-certified installer
Split air conditioning
Keep your boiler and just add cooling - a simple private-pay install.
- Not grant-eligible - you keep your heating
- Fitted by an F-Gas / REFCOM engineer
How it works
Three steps, about a minute
Find your home
Type your address. We pre-fill what's already known from public property data - no long forms.
Confirm & answer
Check what we found and answer a couple of quick questions only you can know, like how you heat your home.
Get your cooling plan
An overheating score, the right system, an honest cost, and the planning rules - explained, not sold.
Replacing fossil-fuel heating? Check if your home qualifies.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £2,500 toward an air-to-air heat pump when it replaces your existing fossil-fuel or electric heating, via an MCS-certified installer. Our checker tells you honestly whether that is you - no guesswork.
Built for homeowners
On your side, not the installer's
We don't sell air conditioning and we're not paid to recommend a brand. When you're ready, we introduce you to one accreditation-matched installer - MCS for grant-eligible heat pumps, F-Gas / REFCOM for air conditioning - never a list that resells your details.
One exclusive lead
Your details go to a single vetted installer, not sold five times over.
No cold-calling
We only contact you if you ask us to. That is the law, and we like it that way.
Explained, not sold
Every score and verdict shows its reasoning so you can sense-check it.
Popular cooling guides
Property-specific advice for your kind of home
Common questions
The honest answers
Is this free?
Yes. The cooling checker is free and gives you a full property-specific plan on screen. You only ever share your details with an installer if you explicitly choose to.
Will I get cold-called?
No. We never contact you unless you ask us to, and your details only ever go to one installer you have consented to - never sold to a list. That is UK law (PECR), and our policy.
Do I really qualify for the £2,500 grant?
Only if an air-to-air heat pump replaces your existing fossil-fuel or electric heating, fitted by an MCS-certified installer. A cooling-only add-on that keeps your boiler does not qualify - the checker tells you honestly which applies to you.
Where does my home data come from?
Public property records (EPC and UPRN data). We use it to pre-fill the boring bits so you answer as few questions as possible - no surveillance, no long forms.
What's the difference between air-to-air and a split air conditioner?
An air-to-air heat pump both cools in summer and heats in winter, and is the only cooling system the £2,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant can fund - when it replaces your fossil-fuel or electric heating via an MCS-certified installer. A split or multi-split air conditioner cools your home but keeps your existing heating: it is private-pay and fitted by an F-Gas / REFCOM-registered installer. The checker recommends whichever genuinely fits your home.
How accurate are the cost estimates?
They are indicative UK ranges from 2026 trade-guide data, adjusted for your property type and the number of rooms you want to cool - a realistic planning figure, not a fixed quote. Your matched installer confirms the exact price after a survey.
Will I need planning permission?
Often an outdoor unit is permitted development, but not always - flats, maisonettes, conservation areas and listed buildings have tighter rules, and units must meet noise limits. The checker gives an honest, property-specific indication and tells you plainly when to confirm with your local planning authority. We never claim certainty we cannot derive from your property data.
Which installer will I be matched with, and are they vetted?
One installer, matched to your job and its accreditation - MCS for grant-eligible air-to-air, F-Gas / REFCOM for private-pay air conditioning. Your details go to that single installer only, never resold to a list, and only if you ask. You decide whether and when to proceed.
Does air conditioning cost a lot to run?
Modern air-to-air heat pumps move heat rather than burn energy, so they are far more efficient than old portable units and running costs are usually lower than people expect. Your plan shows an indicative running-cost band for your property.
What if there is no EPC or data on record for my home?
No problem - the checker simply asks you to confirm a few details instead of pre-filling them, and you still get a full property-specific plan. Roughly a fifth of UK homes have no EPC on file, so this is a normal path, not an error.
See exactly how to cool your home
A property-specific plan in about a minute - no pressure, no cold calls.