Air conditioning in Maidstone, for summer and winter

How air conditioning works in a Maidstone home

Most home air conditioning is a split system. A slim unit goes high on the wall inside, a second unit goes outside, and two refrigerant pipes, a power cable and a small drain join them through a neat hole in the wall. The refrigerant carries heat from one unit to the other, so the system moves heat rather than making cold.

That is why it uses far less electricity than the heat it shifts, and why the same kit can be reversed for heating. Our air conditioning installation page walks through a typical job, from the survey to the handover.

Why more homes in Maidstone are adding cooling

The Met Office confirmed that summer 2026 was the hottest on record in the UK, with a mean temperature of 16.5°C and five heatwaves. It was also the sunniest on record in southern England, and the temperature reached 38.1°C at Kew Gardens in August. Kent knows this kind of heat: Faversham, about 20 miles from Maidstone, reached 38.5°C in August 2003, a figure that stood as the highest in the UK until 2019.

Homes hold on to that heat overnight, and top floors and loft rooms suffer most. The first sign is often a bedroom that will not cool down enough to sleep in. Our page on home air conditioning covers which rooms to do first. Sources: ITV News; KentOnline.

Heating in winter from the same system

A reversible split is also an air-to-air heat pump. In winter it draws warmth from the outside air and releases it indoors. Material from an Energy Saving Trust webinar says these systems typically deliver more than four units of heat for each unit of electricity. At the October to December 2026 price cap, that is about 6.6p for each unit of heat, against 26.32p for a plug-in electric heater.

It heats the air in a room rather than the radiators and it does not make hot water, so most homes use it alongside their boiler, or in place of electric heaters in a conservatory, extension or garden office. Read more about air-to-air heat pumps, or whether air conditioning can heat your home. Sources: Energy Saving Trust; Ofgem.

Older homes and conservation areas

Maidstone Borough Council looks after 41 conservation areas, from the town centre and Holy Trinity to villages such as Bearsted, Boughton Monchelsea, Sutton Valence and Yalding. Outdoor units are often allowed without a planning application on a house, but in a conservation area the unit cannot go on a wall or roof facing the road, or sit nearer the road than the house. Parts of Headcorn, Hollingbourne, Lenham and the Loose Valley also have extra controls under Article 4 Directions, and a listed building needs its own permission.

A rear wall, a side return or a discreet spot at ground level usually solves it. We look at this at the survey, and our guide to planning permission for air conditioning sets out the rules. Sources: Maidstone Borough Council; Planning Portal.

New-build homes that run warm

Maidstone is growing fast. Its population rose 13.3% between the 2011 and 2021 censuses, about twice the rate for England, and the Local Plan Review approved by the government inspector in 2024 provides for at least 19,669 homes to 2039. New homes are well insulated, which is good in January and less good in July when the heat has nowhere to go.

Since Part O of the Building Regulations came in, new homes must be designed to limit overheating, and the rule pushes builders towards shading and ventilation before any mechanical cooling. Many owners still want a cooler bedroom in a heatwave. Before you add a unit to a new-build, check the estate covenants and any planning conditions, because either can restrict outdoor units. Sources: ONS; KentOnline; GOV.UK.

Offices, shops and workplaces

The town centre has the largest office centre in the county and more than a million square feet of shops, including The Mall and Fremlin Walk. The law sets no maximum temperature for a workplace, but the Workplace Regulations require a reasonable temperature indoors, and the Health and Safety Executive says employers should treat heat as a hazard to assess and manage.

We fit office air conditioning, systems for shops, restaurants and salons, and server room cooling. Sources: Wikipedia; HSE.

What to check before you choose an installer

By law, anyone who installs or services this equipment needs their own F-gas qualification, and a company working on other people's systems must hold a company certificate from an approved body. Ask any installer, us included, for the certificate details and check them. Our guide to F-gas rules and your installer explains what to ask for. Sources: GOV.UK; GOV.UK.