IcyHomes installs air conditioning across Wembley and the wider HA9, in the new apartment blocks around the stadium and in the inter-war houses that make up most of the rest of the area.
New-build flats overheat, and it surprises people
The development around Wembley Park has put thousands of new flats into the area, and new flats are the most common overheating complaint we deal with anywhere. It feels counter-intuitive, because they are the best-built homes on the market. That is exactly the problem.
A modern block is heavily insulated and close to airtight, with large glazed elevations and, in many cases, windows that open only a few inches for safety. Heat gets in through the glass and then has nowhere to go. Mechanical ventilation moves air but does not cool it. By August a south or west-facing flat can be several degrees above the rest of the building and stay there overnight.
Check the lease before anything else
Nearly all of this housing is leasehold, so the first question is not technical but contractual. Fixing a condenser to an external wall or putting one on a balcony usually needs written consent from the freeholder or the managing agent, and newer blocks often have specific rules about it.
Some developments allow it with conditions on siting and noise. Some do not allow external units at all. Find out early, because consent takes considerably longer than the installation. We can supply the technical detail agents normally ask for.
The houses: 1930s semis and loft conversions
Away from the stadium, Wembley is largely inter-war semis and terraces, a great many with loft conversions and rear extensions. These have the familiar pattern: a top-floor bedroom under the roof that holds heat overnight, and a rear kitchen with glazed doors facing the garden.
A single wall unit usually handles a loft room. Where a conversion created two rooms, a multi-split running two indoor units from one condenser is normally tidier than two separate systems. See our loft conversion page.
Where the outdoor unit goes
On a Wembley semi there is usually a side elevation or a flat roof over a rear extension, which keeps pipework off the front of the house entirely. In a flat the realistic options are a balcony or an external wall, both of which come back to consent. Either way we work the route out at survey rather than on the day.
Noise and neighbours
Semis share a wall and flats share rather more. We site condensers to discharge away from boundaries and bedroom windows, fit anti-vibration mounts as standard, and specify quieter equipment on tight plots and in blocks even where a cheaper unit would meet the cooling load on paper.
Planning
If your property is listed or sits in a conservation area, confirm the position with Brent Council before work is booked. It rarely rules out an installation, but it can determine which elevation the outdoor unit may go on. We will raise it at survey if we think it applies.
Cost
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 systems are quoted individually. Our cost page sets out what is included.
Book a survey in Wembley
Surveys are free and carry no obligation, and if a cheaper or simpler option would do the job we will say so. Contact us or call 020 3488 4657.
