Does Air Conditioning Increase the Value of your Home?

As the summer becomes hotter across parts of Northern Europe more people are viewing air conditioning as a necessity, not a luxury.

This has the added effect of making homes with air conditioning already installed more desirable and therefore worth more than those without.

This begs the question, how much can an air conditioning system increase the value of your home? And will the rise in value outweigh the cost of installation? The answer to both of these questions will depend on the size of your home and the type of air conditioning system installed. Let’s take a look in more detail.

How much can air conditioning increase your home’s value?

A simple portable air conditioner can be installed for as little as £500 pounds but such a system is not permanent and is unlikely to add value to your home. On the other hand, installing a permanent multi-room ducted system into a 3-bedroom will cost between £3000-£9500 depending on the amount of ducting required.

Will you see a return on your investment? In the UK there is little data to show how air conditioning affects home prices. This is because few homes in the UK have air conditioning installed. But if we look at the North American market where air conditioning is more common, a pre-installed air conditioning system is estimated to increase a home’s value by around 2.5%.

Is it worth installing air conditioning?

If we transfer this data to the UK market, a typical £250,000 pound home will be worth £6250 extra with air conditioning installed. So the increase in value will NOT cover the cost of installation. It will, however, make your home more desirable, which in theory, should allow you to sell it much quicker.

So to answer the question, does air conditioning add value to your home? The answer is yes, but not enough to offset the cost of installation.

Air conditioning then should be considered a luxury purchase with the aim of making your life more comfortable during the hot summer months. And it is surely worth it for that reason alone.