Air Conditioning Installation in Marlow
Discreet, conservation-aware cooling and heating for Marlow's Georgian, riverside and period homes.
There are two Marlows, and they need different installations
Most air conditioning companies covering Marlow are based somewhere else, and it shows in the quote. A Georgian house on West Street and a 1960s family home in Marlow Bottom are not the same job — different walls, different planning position, different places the outdoor unit can legally and sensibly go. We survey for the house in front of us.
Period property, conservation rules
The historic centre, the streets around the church and bridge, and the riverside houses. Beautiful, and genuinely more demanding to install in well.
- Much of the historic core sits within a conservation area, and a number of frontages are listed — which changes what is permitted and where
- Solid brick and flint walls that need slow, patient core drilling rather than a rushed hole
- Outdoor units sited out of view from the street — rear elevations, side returns, screened positions
- Riverside properties: plant mounted clear of ground level, with flood risk considered rather than ignored
- Narrow lanes and restricted parking — we plan van access at survey, not on the morning
Straightforward, and quicker
Twentieth-century family housing, garden offices and extensions. Usually the simplest kind of job we do — and often the same afternoon.
- Cavity walls that core cleanly, properly sleeved so you never get cold bridging or damp at the penetration
- Driveways and side access, so no parking problem and no carrying kit through the house
- Garden offices and converted lofts — the two rooms in Marlow we're asked about most
- Generally permitted development, though we still check your specific property before quoting
- Newer timber-frame builds fixed correctly, without compromising the breather membrane
What we expect to find in a Marlow wall
Core drilling is where a careless installer does damage they can't undo. Knowing what's likely behind the wall before the drill comes out is most of the job.
Solid brick
Georgian and Victorian, often nine inches or more, frequently in lime mortar. Drilled slowly and wet, with the internal face protected — rushing this is how you blow the plaster out on the inside.
Flint and chalk
Common in older Chilterns walls and the hardest to core cleanly — flint shatters and pushes the bit off line. It's a patient job, and one worth doing properly rather than quickly.
Cavity (1930s–1970s)
The easiest to drill and the easiest to get wrong. The penetration gets sleeved and sealed so the cavity keeps doing its job and you never see damp at the pipe run.
Modern timber frame
Newer builds and infill plots. Fixings go into structure, not board, and the breather membrane is sealed correctly afterwards — a detail that's routinely skipped.
Marlow-specific things we check before quoting
- Conservation area and listed status
- We confirm the position for your address before the quote goes out, rather than promising you it'll be fine. If consent is needed, we say so — and we'd rather lose the job than land you with an enforcement letter.
- Flood risk on riverside properties
- An outdoor unit sitting at ground level near the Thames is a unit with a shelf life. Where flood risk applies, we mount plant clear of the likely level and design the pipe run accordingly.
- Neighbour proximity and noise
- Marlow's older streets put houses close together. We site the outdoor unit with your neighbour's windows in mind, and tell you the sound level before you commit.
- Access and parking
- Some Marlow addresses simply can't take a van outside. We work that out at survey and plan around it, so install day isn't spent carrying condensers a hundred yards.
Single-room comfort
One discreet indoor unit for a bedroom, office or sitting room. Surveyed, installed and commissioned in a day.
Whole-home multi-split
Two to five rooms from one quiet outdoor unit, designed around your home before we drill a hole.
Servicing & repair
Annual servicing that keeps your warranty valid — for systems we fitted and ones we didn't.
What changes the price
Every quote is a fixed price for your specific home, not a range we adjust later. These are the things that move it:
- Pipe run length — how far the room sits from the only sensible outdoor position
- Wall construction — solid brick and flint in the old town take considerably longer to core than Marlow Bottom cavity
- Access and parking — narrow lanes and restricted parking in the centre change how a day runs
- Electrical work — whether your consumer unit has a spare way, or a new circuit is needed
- Unit choice — the standard indoor head, or the slimline designer range
- Consent — listed or conservation-area properties occasionally need permission first
We'll tell you which of these apply at the survey — and the price we quote is the price you pay.
You won't have to remember
Air conditioning needs servicing once a year. That's not our rule — every manufacturer makes warranty cover conditional on it.
You can book that yourself each year, or become a member and never think about it again:
- When we're busiest, members come first
- We contact you when the Health Check is due — not the other way round
- One call-out a year, no charge to attend
- Price fixed for your first 12 months, then 30 days’ notice of any change
A one-off Health Check is £175, and £50 for each additional unit on the same visit. Membership is £144 a year for one unit, includes a call-out, and we keep the warranty paperwork for you. Whatever size the system, membership costs less than booking the same servicing visit by visit.
Ask about it with your surveyFor one indoor unit. £3 a month for each additional unit.
First month free · cancel any time
We photograph every Marlow installation
No stock photography, and nothing borrowed from another installer with a Marlow caption stuck on it. This page shows real Marlow work, photographed on the day with the owner's permission — which means it fills up job by job.
Everything else on this page — the walls, the planning rules, the prices — is exactly as it will be for your survey.
What people in Marlow ask us
Do I need planning permission for air conditioning in Marlow?
For most homes, no — but it depends on your specific property, not on the town. Listed buildings need consent, and homes in the conservation area, in flats, or with the unit visible from the highway need checking carefully. We confirm the position for your address as part of the survey, before you get a quote. The full guide to planning permission →
I'm in the conservation area — can I still have it?
Usually yes, with thought about where the outdoor unit goes. Rear elevations, side returns and screened positions are normally the answer. What we won't do is fit something we think will cause you a problem later and leave you to deal with it. The rules changed in May 2025 and conservation areas are less restrictive than most people assume. The full guide to planning permission →
Where would the outdoor unit go on a riverside property?
Clear of ground level wherever flood risk applies — wall-mounted or on a raised frame — and positioned so it's neither an eyesore from the garden nor a noise problem for the neighbours. We work this out at survey and show you the exact spot before anything is ordered.
Will it heat my garden office in winter?
Yes, and it's often the better reason to fit one. A modern system produces roughly three to four units of heat for every unit of electricity, which makes it considerably cheaper to run than a plug-in heater. It is not a replacement for your house's central heating — but for a garden room, loft or extension it's usually the most sensible option available.
How long does an installation take?
A single room is typically one day. A multi-room system is usually two. We give you a firm date, arrive when we said, and protect the house properly while we're in it.
Air conditioning for your Marlow home
We'll come and measure up, talk through options and positions, and follow up with a fixed written quote within 48 hours. No obligation, no pressure, no salesman.
Prefer to talk? Call 01494 312303
Or email a photo of the room and the outside wall to samuel@chillston.com — we'll reply with a ballpark the same day.