Thinking of installing air conditioning? How to select a specialist

With spring around the corner and the long lockdown due to lift, you may be thinking about installing air conditioning in your home or at your business premises.

It’s a great idea. The benefits are well known. Apart from the obvious – air conditioning keeps your home or office at just the right temperature – it’s also good for your health and that of your property too, filtering out allergens, reducing damp and inhibiting the growth of mould and bacteria.

Air conditioning increases productivity at work, improves sleep at home and because you don’t have to open windows to cool down, you can expect lower noise levels and less security risk.

The question is, how do you make sure you get best value out of your installation?

Properly installed and maintained, air conditioning will more than return your investment, reducing bills and adding value to your home. However, if you cut corners, it may end up costing you much more than it saves.

So, here are our top tips for selecting a specialist installer:

• Check that your installer is fully qualified – this is essential. It is a legal requirement for air conditioning engineers working in the UK to be F-Gas certified in order to work with Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases, otherwise known as F-Gases that are present in air conditioning systems.

• Check out your installer’s experience – what is your installers experience, how long has the company been in operation and what do their customers say about them? In particular, check out their customer service record and what happens if things go wrong?

• Check the warranty your installer offers – air conditioning manufacturers offer warranties on equipment installed by companies they recognize as qualified and competent. If you choose the right installer, you should expect several years of labour and parts warranty, subject to regular maintenance of your air conditioning system.

• Choose a reputable company rather than an individual – it’s tempting to take the cheaper option, particularly as recent circumstances have meant furloughed or laid off engineers going ‘solo’ and offering cut price installations. But remember, you need your installer to be around for the long-term to service your air conditioning system and to maintain your warranty. If your installer has returned to work post-lockdown or is no longer in business, your warranty is useless. If something goes wrong, another company will not repair your system free of charge and replacement parts are expensive.  The old cliché applies here – buy cheap, pay twice.

Why choose MAC?

MAC is a well-established company, with many satisfied customers who depend on our services and have used us for many years. Our industry accreditations include ISO 9001 Quality Standard certification, SafeContractor and Which? Trusted Trader. All our engineers are fully qualified, and F Gas certified. We pride ourselves on outstanding customer service, install only the best equipment and offer a comprehensive 7 year guarantee.