Home office and garden room air conditioning
Home office and garden room air conditioning, for a room you can use all year
Home office and garden room air conditioning that keeps you cool on a summer afternoon and warm on a winter morning, from one quiet unit. Olly sizes it for the room, plans the outdoor unit and pipes, and fits most rooms in a day. For garden offices, garden rooms and home offices across Dartford, Kent and south-east London.
The problem
Why garden rooms and home offices get too hot and too cold
A garden room is a small building with a lot of glass. Bifold doors and big windows let the sun pour in, and a light timber frame heats up fast. By mid-afternoon in summer it can be the hottest room you own. In winter the same room cools quickly after dark and has no central heating to fall back on.
A home office in the house has its own problem: heat from the inside. A computer, two screens, a printer and a person all give off heat, all day, in what is often the smallest room. Each person gives off roughly 100 watts, and the equipment adds more. With the door shut for calls, the room keeps warming up.
That is why garden offices and home offices are often the first room people cool. And because the units we fit are heat pumps, they solve the winter problem too. One unit heats and cools, so the room is comfortable on any working day of the year.
All year round
Garden office air con that heats in winter too
For a garden room, heating is often worth more than cooling. A heat pump is an efficient way to do it.
An air-to-air heat pump moves heat from the outside air into the room, even on a cold day. Which? (July 2026) says air-to-air heating costs less to run than other electric heating, such as the panel heaters many garden rooms come with.
Most units have Wi-Fi and a weekly timer, so you can have the office warm by nine and off by six. Our guide to running costs shows what heating and cooling cost per hour.
Before you fit
Garden room air conditioning: what we check
A garden room is a different job from a room in the house. These are the things we look at on the survey.
- The power supply. Most garden rooms are fed by a cable from the house. We check what is there, and whether it can take the air conditioning or needs its own circuit.
- Where the outdoor unit sits. Usually on a ground stand next to the garden room, with short pipes through the wall behind the indoor unit. On timber walls, the ground is often better than a bracket.
- The neighbours. Garden rooms often sit near the fence. The outdoor unit still has to pass the MCS 020(a) noise check: 37 dB(A) at the neighbour's nearest door or window. The old 1 metre from the boundary rule went in May 2025, but noise still decides the spot.
- Where the water goes. Cooling makes water inside. Heating makes water outside, when the outdoor unit defrosts. Both need a drain or soakaway, not a path where it could freeze.
- Insulation and glass. A well-insulated room needs a smaller unit and costs less to run. If your garden room is still being built, talk to us early.
The planning rules for heat-and-cool units on houses also cover the garden around them, with the same conditions. Our planning permission guide has the detail.
A photo of the room and the outside of it is a good start.
Real jobs
Garden rooms and home offices we have fitted
- A Panasonic split system for a home office in Dartford, heating and cooling the room.
- A 3.5kW Panasonic wall unit for a garden room in South Darenth.
- A garden office near Borough Green, where the customer said Olly "spent the time to explain how everything worked, maintenance, and how to get the best from the air conditioning".
- Air conditioning in a garden room in the Borough Green area, and in an office near Farningham.
What size unit for a home office?
Most garden offices and home offices take a unit from 2.5kW to 3.5kW. The glass, which way it faces and what is running in the room decide where in that range you land. Too big wastes money and short-cycles. Too small runs flat out on the hottest days. We size it from the room itself.
A quiet unit matters on video calls. Many of the wall units we fit are very quiet on low fan. Compare them on our wall-mounted air conditioning page.
Cost
How much does home office air conditioning cost?
You get a fixed written quote after a free survey. For a guide, Checkatrade's 2026 cost guide puts a home office at about £1,750. National figures like this tend to run higher in London and the south-east. For a garden room, the things that move the price are:
- The power supply, and whether the garden room needs a new circuit.
- The unit size and model.
- The distance from the indoor unit to the outdoor unit, and how the pipes are finished.
- A ground stand or a wall bracket, and where the water drains.
More detail is in our guide to what air conditioning costs. Working from a bedroom? See bedroom air conditioning. For a business office or shop, see commercial air conditioning.
Our work
Neat inside and out
Reviews
“A real perfectionist”
Garden room and office installs, in customers' own words.
I cannot fault anything about the whole experience. Really clear survey and quite, discussed options, made great suggestions. The work was done to an amazing standard, better than I expected - a real perfectionist. And then everything was left absolutely spotless. Plus, Olly spent the time to explain how everything worked, maintenance, and how to get the best from the air conditioning. We are really happy with the whole job
Olly came to quote the job promptly and the quote was very reasonable. The work was carried out in a professional, clean and friendly manner. He spent time making sure the unit was fully operational and fitted to a high standard. Very pleased with the service.
Excellent job couldn’t fault the apex team they was very pleasant they gave me a competitive quote and done a very high standard of work I would definitely use them again and highly recommend them 10/10
Questions
Garden room and home office air con FAQs
Can air conditioning heat a garden room in winter?
Yes. The systems we fit are air-to-air heat pumps, so the same unit that cools in summer heats in winter, and it keeps working on cold days. For a garden room with no central heating, that is often the bigger benefit. You can set it on a timer or the app so the room is warm before you walk down the garden.
What size air conditioner do I need for a garden office?
Most garden offices we see need a unit between 2.5kW and 3.5kW, but glass makes a big difference. A room with bifold doors facing south gains far more heat than one with a single window facing north. People and computers add heat too. We work it out from the room itself at the survey rather than guessing from the floor area.
Do I need planning permission for air con on a garden room?
Usually not, for a house in England. A heat-and-cool unit within the garden of a house is normally permitted development, as long as the outdoor unit meets the size and siting rules and passes the MCS 020(a) noise check at the neighbour's nearest window. Listed buildings and some conservation-area positions are different. We check your address at the survey.
Where does the outdoor unit go for a garden room?
Usually on a ground stand or slabs beside or behind the garden room, close to the indoor unit so the pipes are short. A wall bracket can work on a solid wall, but on a timber building the ground is often the better choice. We keep it clear of the neighbour's windows and leave space for the air to flow and for servicing.
Can I control garden room air con from my phone?
Most units we fit have Wi-Fi built in or as an option, with apps such as Panasonic Comfort Cloud, Daikin Onecta and MELCloud. You can switch it on from the house, set a weekly timer for your working days and check the temperature. It helps if your Wi-Fi reaches the garden room, which is worth checking before the fitting day.
Get a free garden room or office quote
Talk to Olly directly. He quotes and fits the jobs himself.
Quickest way to a price: send on WhatsApp
- A photo of the room and the outside wall
- Your town and what you need
- For a repair, the unit's label and any error code
Free survey and a fixed written quote for new systems. No obligation.