Commercial HVAC cost estimator
Pick a system type, a size and a building for a sourced installed-price benchmark and the sensible first move. Indicative only, not a quote.
Indicative estimate
- Indicative installed cost
- £16,000–£28,000 (£400–£700 per kW)
- Sensible first move
- Load survey
- Efficiency metric
- SEER / SCOP
VRF suits offices, retail and hotels up to roughly 150–200 kW of cooling; heat-recovery VRF moves heat between zones for free.
Get a quoteThese are indicative ranges from typical published UK figures. Your actual cost depends on the load, zones, plant-room and access, refrigerant choice and any electrical upgrade. Figures are never guaranteed. This tool does not store any data you enter, and it is not a quote.
Estimator FAQs
How accurate is this estimator?
It applies published installed prices (one UK trade pricing guide dated 27 May 2026, and UK seller list prices read on 30 September 2026) to the size you enter; chillers, air handling units, ventilation and heat pumps are priced from a design, so it does not guess a range for them. Your actual cost depends on the cooling and heating load, the number of zones and units, plant-room and access constraints, refrigerant choice and any electrical supply upgrade. For a firm figure, send us your building and current plant and a good contractor will model it from a survey and your real half-hourly data.
Why does the building type change the estimate so much?
Because the load drives the plant. A city-centre office runs a very different cooling and ventilation profile to a distribution warehouse or a 24/7 data suite, so the same nominal system can differ widely in capacity, controls and cost. A good contractor sizes on peak heat gain and loss, not floor area alone.
Does this include running cost?
No — this is an indicative installed cost only. Running cost depends on the efficiency of the system (SEER/SCOP), how it is controlled at part-load, and your tariff. A good contractor models running cost, and any electrification case, from your real consumption data rather than guessing.
Is this a quote?
No. It is an indicative estimate to help you budget. A firm quote follows once a good contractor knows the building, the current plant and the loads. Every figure here is a published benchmark, never a guarantee, and refrigerant work must be carried out by F-gas certified engineers.