Air conditioning for offices
Offices are one of the more predictable environments to cool, but they still throw up problems: a boardroom that overheats the moment eight people and a projector are in it, a server cupboard someone forgot to mention, or a building manager who wants one system controlling comfort across three different tenancies.
We work with everything from single-office wall units through to multi-outdoor VRF systems serving whole floors, and we design around real occupancy patterns rather than floor area alone, because heat gain from people, laptops, monitors and afternoon sun through glazing varies enormously between a quiet back office and an open-plan sales floor.
Most of our office work is out-of-hours or weekend installation to avoid disrupting a working business, and we're used to coordinating with facilities managers, landlords and other trades on-site.
Sizing for real occupancy, not just floor area
A cooling load calculation for an office needs to account for headcount, equipment density, glazing orientation and ceiling type, not just square metres. Undersizing leaves meeting rooms stuffy by mid-afternoon; oversizing means short-cycling, poor humidity control and higher running costs.
- Headcount and typical occupancy patterns, including peak meetings
- Equipment load from PCs, monitors, printers and any server cupboards
- Glazing area, orientation and any external shading
- Suspended ceiling void depth for ducted or cassette options
Typical equipment we specify
Individual offices and smaller suites usually suit wall-mounted or ceiling cassette units on a multi-split system, giving separate control per room. Larger open-plan floors or multi-tenant buildings often make more sense on VRF, where one set of outdoor condensers serves many indoor units with individual zone control.
- Wall-mounted split systems for single offices and small suites
- Ceiling cassettes for open-plan areas with suspended ceilings
- VRF for larger floors or buildings needing simultaneous heating and cooling in different zones
- Panasonic, LG and Midea equipment depending on budget and specification
Working around a live business
Refrigerant pipework, cable routes and outdoor unit positions all need agreeing with facilities or the landlord before we start, especially in multi-let buildings where roof or riser access is shared. We schedule noisy or disruptive work — core drilling, pipe runs through occupied areas — for evenings or weekends where the business needs it, and protect flooring and furniture throughout.
Maintenance and compliance
Commercial systems holding a refrigerant charge above the F-Gas threshold need regular leak checks, and most businesses want documented service history for insurance and lease obligations anyway. We set up maintenance contracts that cover filter cleaning, refrigerant checks, electrical connections and performance testing, timed to suit the building's usage rather than a generic schedule.
Running costs
Office running costs are driven by system efficiency, how well zones are matched to actual usage, and control strategy — leaving a whole floor's cooling on a single thermostat instead of zoned control wastes energy in rooms nobody is using. Inverter-driven systems that modulate output rather than cycling on and off tend to cost less to run over a working day.
FAQs
Common questions
Can you install without disrupting the working day?
Yes — most office installs are scheduled out of hours or at weekends. We'll agree a plan with your facilities team covering access, noise and any areas that need to stay live.
Do we need separate systems for each tenant in a shared building?
Not necessarily. VRF can serve multiple tenancies from shared outdoor plant while giving each area independent control, though landlord agreements on metering and maintenance responsibility need sorting first.
How often does office air conditioning need servicing?
Most offices suit an annual or twice-yearly service, more often for systems with higher refrigerant charge that fall under F-Gas leak check requirements.
What about a server cupboard in the same building?
That normally needs its own dedicated, continuously running system rather than relying on the office comfort cooling — see our server room guide.
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