IcyHomes installs air conditioning across Epping, in houses and in the small commercial premises along and around the High Street. This page explains what we fit here, what the local building stock tends to need, and how to get a price.
A town of very mixed buildings
Epping is harder to generalise about than most of the places we work. Within a short walk you have Victorian cottages, substantial Edwardian and inter-war houses on the roads off the High Street, post-war housing, and modern estates towards Coopersale. Each needs a different approach, and the honest answer to what system suits your house is that it depends on the house.
What they do have in common is age. Older properties were built for a cooler climate, with solid walls, small windows on the shaded side and large ones facing the sun. Adding insulation and sealing draughts has made them far better in winter and noticeably worse in summer.
Period properties and listed buildings
Epping has a number of listed buildings, particularly around the High Street, and several conservation areas. This is the single most important thing to establish before planning an installation, because it changes where an outdoor condenser may be fixed and sometimes whether it may be fixed to a particular elevation at all.
It rarely makes air conditioning impossible. It usually means the outdoor unit goes to the rear or at ground level rather than on a visible wall, and that pipework is routed with more care. If your property is listed or in a conservation area, confirm the position with Epping Forest District Council before committing to any work. We will flag it at survey if we believe it applies.
Shops, salons and small offices
A good part of our Epping work is light commercial rather than residential. Retail units, salons, treatment rooms and small offices all have the same difficulty: a single shopfront window, a deep narrow interior, and equipment or people generating heat all day. Comfort matters commercially here in a way it does not at home, because an uncomfortable room shortens the time customers stay in it.
Commercial installations are usually quoted around opening hours so the work causes as little disruption as possible.
Extensions and open-plan living
Where Epping houses have been extended, the extension is often where the heat collects. A kitchen and dining space with roof lights and glazed doors facing the garden will gain heat from mid-morning and hold it well into the evening. A wall unit sited away from the seating area handles this quietly, and on a larger open-plan space two smaller units usually work better than one large one, because the air is distributed rather than blasted from one end.
Lofts and top floors
Converted lofts and top-floor bedrooms are the most common single-room enquiry we get anywhere, Epping included. They sit under the roof, they have the least ventilation, and they are used at exactly the time of day when the building is giving back the heat it absorbed. Our loft conversion page covers the options in more detail.
Keeping it discreet
The question we are asked most in Epping is how visible the system will be. Indoor units can be sited above door height or in a corner where they are barely noticed, and where the building work allows, a ducted system hides the unit entirely and leaves only a slim grille. Outdoors, condensers can be screened, sited at ground level behind planting, or placed on a flat roof out of sight.
We work the siting out at survey and show you where everything will go before you commit.
Costs and timescales
A single-room installation starts from GBP 1,500 to GBP 1,800 including VAT, subject to survey, and is usually a day on site. Multi-room, ducted and commercial systems are priced individually. Our installation cost page explains what the price covers.
Arrange a survey in Epping
Surveys are free and carry no obligation. We will tell you honestly if a cheaper or simpler option would do the job. Contact us or call 020 3488 4657.
See also the other areas we cover across north east London and west Essex.
