The garden office you can finally use in January.
That one room your radiators never quite manage — the loft, the extension, the studio at the bottom of the garden. There's a better answer than another oil-filled radiator, and it cools you in July as well.
Most people don't realise air conditioning heats
It's the best-kept secret in home comfort. The slim white unit most people associate with hot summers is, in fact, a heat pump — and it works just as hard in reverse. On a freezing January morning it will warm a room from cold in minutes, quietly, and for a fraction of what it costs to fire up the whole central heating system for one room.
Which makes it the answer to a problem almost every home has: the one room the radiators never quite fix.
The garden office
Unusable from November to March. A heat pump makes it a year-round room — warm in minutes, no waiting.
The loft conversion
Roasting in July, arctic in January. The classic problem room — and the classic case for a system that does both.
The glazed extension
All that glass looks wonderful and leaks heat. Radiators struggle; a properly-sized system doesn't.
The north-facing room
The study, the spare room, the one that's always five degrees colder than the rest of the house.
Warmth for pennies, not pounds
A heat pump doesn't make heat — it moves it. That's why it delivers roughly three to four kilowatts of warmth for every one kilowatt of electricity it uses.
- Warms a single room in minutes — no waiting for the whole house
- Far cheaper than heating the entire home for one cold study
- Set a temperature; the room holds it, quietly
- Filtered air, and no radiator taking up wall space
of heating or cooling delivered
for every 1 kW of electricity used
Fitted once. Useful all year.
November – March
Efficient, fast, quiet heating for the room your central heating can't reach. Many of our customers end up using it more in winter than in summer.
May – September
The same system cools that room through the heatwaves — a bedroom you can actually sleep in, an office you can actually think in.
Being straight with you
This isn't a replacement for your boiler, and we won't pretend it is. It's excellent room-by-room heating — the right answer for a specific cold room, a garden studio, or a glazed extension. If what you actually need is a whole-house heating solution, we'll tell you so and point you in the right direction.
What people ask us about heating
Is it really cheaper to run than a plug-in heater?
Yes, substantially. An electric heater converts one unit of electricity into one unit of heat. A modern air-to-air heat pump moves heat rather than making it, typically producing three to four units of warmth for every unit of electricity used. For a room you heat regularly, that difference is significant.
Can it replace my central heating?
No, and we won't pretend otherwise. This heats the room it's installed in, very efficiently. It is the right answer for a garden office, a loft conversion, an extension or a room your radiators never quite reach — not a substitute for a whole-house heating system.
Does it still work when it's freezing outside?
Yes. Modern systems are designed to produce heat well below zero, though output does reduce as the outside temperature falls. We size the system for the coldest realistic day rather than an average one, so it still performs when you actually need it.
Which rooms benefit most?
Garden offices and garden rooms, loft conversions, single-storey extensions, conservatories and north-facing rooms. The pattern is the same: spaces added to a house after the heating system was designed, which are then too cold in winter and too hot in summer.
Is it noisy?
Indoors, modern units are quieter than most people expect — comparable to a whisper on their lowest setting. Outdoors there is some noise, which is why siting matters. We'll tell you the sound figures before you commit and position the unit with your neighbours in mind.
So one system does heating and cooling?
Yes — it's the same unit, and there is no extra cost for the heating function. That's what makes it worth fitting: it earns its keep in January as well as July.
Tell us about the cold room
We'll come and look, measure it properly, and tell you honestly what it needs — then 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 to samuel@chillston.com — we'll come back to you the same day.