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Which System Is Right For You?
Wall-mounted, ceiling cassette, concealed ducted, floor-standing — the choice is usually made for you by the building rather than by preference, and most people meet these words for the first time on a quotation. This guide asks about the space and tells you which shapes tend to suit it, and why. It suggests a shape of system, never a size and never a product.
What this tool can and cannot tell you
This suggests a shape of system, not a size. What capacity a room needs comes from a heat-load assessment of that room, and no set of multiple-choice answers can produce one. It has also not seen your building: where the outdoor unit can go, what route the pipework can take and whether the electrical supply is adequate are decided on site, and any of the three can rule out an option that looks ideal on paper. It names no product, no manufacturer and no price.
Your suggestions will appear here
Answer the questions and one or two shapes of system appear here, each with the reasons it was suggested. Nothing is sent anywhere.
The shapes of system, and what each one is
These are the words that appear on a quotation. Each one has a genuine trade-off, and any installer who offers you one without mentioning its downside has not finished explaining it.
- Wall-mounted single split
- Wall-mounted · Single split
- One indoor unit high on a wall, one outdoor unit outside, connected by a pair of insulated pipes. It is what most single-room installations are, and for good reason: it is the least disruptive to fit and the easiest to service.
- The trade-off: The indoor unit is visible, and it serves one room only — a second room means a second system or a multi-split.
- Wall-mounted multi-split
- Wall-mounted · Multi split
- Several indoor units sharing one outdoor unit. Each room gets its own unit and its own control, and only one outdoor unit has to be found a home — which is often the hardest part of the whole job.
- The trade-off: The rooms share one outdoor unit, so on most systems they cannot be in heating and cooling at the same time. The pipework runs are longer and the installation takes more than a day.
- Ceiling cassette
- Ceiling cassette · Single split
- Fitted into the ceiling, flush with it, blowing air out in several directions at once. It suits a room people move around in, and it leaves the walls clear.
- The trade-off: It needs a ceiling void deep enough to take it, which rules it out in a lot of houses. Fitting one is a bigger job than hanging a wall unit.
- Concealed ducted unit
- Ducted · Multi split
- The indoor unit is hidden above a ceiling or in a void, and air reaches the room through slim grilles. From inside the room there is almost nothing to see.
- The trade-off: The most involved of the options to install and the most expensive, and it needs somewhere to hide the unit with access to it for servicing. Best decided before a ceiling goes up rather than after.
- Floor-standing unit
- Floor-standing · Single split
- Sits at low level like a radiator. It is the answer where glazing runs most of the way up the wall and there is simply nowhere to hang an indoor unit, and it puts warm air in at the level you want it in winter.
- The trade-off: It takes floor space and furniture has to stay clear of it. Cool air distributes less evenly from low level than from high.
How this is worked out
No hidden model and no algorithm worth the name — every answer nudges a score, and the reasons shown against each suggestion are exactly the answers that produced it.
Every answer you give adds to or subtracts from the score of each shape of system, and the two highest are shown. Nothing is hidden behind the scores — the reasons listed against each recommendation are exactly the answers that raised it.
How many rooms you are conditioning is the strongest single influence, because it decides whether one outdoor unit can serve the job or several are needed.
Whether the indoor unit has to be out of sight is the next strongest, because it is the one requirement that only a concealed ducted unit fully satisfies.
What the space is used for, whether it is open plan, how much noise matters, whether you want to heat with it and where your budget priority sits all adjust the result from there.
The scores themselves are never shown, because they are an ordering device rather than a measurement. A percentage match would be a statistic, and there is no data behind this that could justify one.
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What this tool is a first step towards.
Want this checked properly?
A survey measures the things this page had to ask you to estimate. It is free, there is no obligation, and you get an answer based on your building rather than on a general rule.
Before you rely on this
- This is indicative, not a specification. It is a guide to help you plan and ask better questions. It is not a design, not a quotation and not a substitute for a survey.
- A survey is what decides. An engineer measures the things this page can only ask you to estimate, and confirms where equipment can physically go, how it will be run and what the electrical supply allows.
- Installation and refrigerant work are regulated. Air-conditioning systems contain refrigerant under pressure and are connected to a fixed electrical supply. Installing, moving, opening, recharging or decommissioning one is work for a qualified, F-Gas registered engineer — never a DIY job.
- We do not publish a saving. Nothing on this page claims what you would save against any other way of heating or cooling a room. What you would save depends on what you have now, how you use it and what you pay for energy, and we will not put a number on that without knowing all three.