Daikin
MidPerfera
Single finish — white
£££££
A main bedroom or living room where you want it to disappear
- Flash Streamer air purification
- Wi-Fi as standard
- Self-cleaning filter
- 19dB on low
Every brand we fit, side by side
Where does it all actually sit?
Eight manufacturers, two or three ranges each, and every one of them claims to be the quiet efficient one. This page puts them on the same scale so you can see what is entry level, what is premium, and what the difference between them buys you. Filter it, compare any three head to head, and bring the shortlist to us.
Independent of any manufacturer • We fit and service every one of them • No brand pays for placement here
How to read this page
What the pound signs mean
These are relative bands, not prices, and they cover the kit only — indoor unit and outdoor condenser. Installation, materials and commissioning are quoted separately, because a first-floor bedroom with a 3-metre pipe run and a converted barn with a 25-metre one are not the same job. Everything is pegged to a 3.5kW single split so the brands are compared like for like.
£££££The cheapest way to cool a room properly. Fewer features, a little louder.
£££££The volume end of the market. Where most sensible installations land.
£££££Better efficiency, quieter, and features you will actually use.
£££££Design-led or class-leading efficiency. Chosen for a reason, not by default.
£££££The top of a manufacturer's range, or a system that does more than one job.
Two things this page will not do
It will not tell you a price — a band is a position in the market, not a quote, and anyone quoting you before they have measured your room is guessing. And it will not tell you which unit is right for you, because that comes out of the heat loss for the actual room: its size, its glazing, which way it faces and how many people are in it. What this page is for is narrowing the field down to a shortlist of two or three, so the conversation with us starts somewhere sensible.
Wall-mounted units
The whole range, on one scale
The wall unit is what goes in most homes. Filter by budget, by level or by what matters most to you, then pick up to three to compare properly.
Daikin
MidStylish
9 finishes
£££££ indicative
Rooms where the unit will be looked at every day
- Slimmest casing Daikin make
- Silver, black or white finish
- Presence and floor sensors
- Wi-Fi as standard
Daikin
PremiumEmura
3 finishes
£££££
A statement piece - the one people photograph
- Curved aluminium fascia
- Three finishes
- Two-area presence sensor
- 19dB on low
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
EntryStandard Plus (SRK-ZTL)
Single finish — white
£££££ indicative
The widest capacity span here, and the only 1.5kW unit anyone offers
- 1.5kW for a genuinely small room
- Up to 7.1kW on one wall unit
- Narrowest cabinet at 798mm
- White only
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
MidPremium (SRK-ZT)
3 finishes
£££££ indicative
A quiet, efficient unit in a colour that is not white
- New for 2026, replaces the ZS
- White, black or titanium
- 19dB on low
- Same cabinet as the outgoing ZS
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
PremiumDiamond (SRK-ZSX)
3 finishes
£££££ indicative
The most efficient wall unit on this page
- SEER 10.30 at 2.5kW
- 25m pipe run, more than the Premium
- White, black and white, or titanium
- 19dB on low
Fujitsu
EntryStandard Series
Single finish — white
£££££
A straightforward, well-priced install in a normal room
- Good value at 4.2kW and 5.0kW
- Human sensor
- Wi-Fi optional
- Washable filters
Fujitsu
MidDesigner Series
Single finish — white
£££££
Small rooms where noise is the deciding factor
- 19dB on low
- Slim fascia
- Wi-Fi as standard
- Ion deodorisation
Samsung
EntryWindFree Comfort S2
Single finish — white
£££££
The cheapest way into genuinely draught-free cooling
- 23,000 micro-holes, no draught
- 16dB - the quietest we fit
- 2.0kW option for small rooms
- Wi-Fi as standard
Samsung
MidWindFree Elite S2
Single finish — white
£££££
A bedroom you sleep in with it running
- SEER 9.1
- Draught-free mode
- AI Auto Cooling
- Easy filter access
Samsung
PremiumWindFree Avant S2
Single finish — white
£££££
Large open-plan rooms without the draught
- Up to 6.5kW
- Draught-free at large capacity
- Self-clean cycle
- Wi-Fi as standard
Panasonic
MidEtherea
3 finishes
£££££
Consistency - it is good at everything and bad at nothing
- nanoe X air purification
- SEER 8.5 across the range
- Wi-Fi as standard
- Same spec at every size
Toshiba
EntrySeiya (S4)
Single finish — white
£££££ indicative
A no-frills room that just needs cooling
- Toshiba compressor at an entry price
- Simple controls
- Wi-Fi optional
- Basic filtration
Toshiba
MidShorai Curve
Single finish — white
£££££ indicative
The sweet spot in the Toshiba range
- Quiet at 19dB
- Self-cleaning
- Wi-Fi as standard
- Strong low-temperature heating
Toshiba
PremiumHaori
3 finishes
£££££ indicative
A room where a white plastic box would look wrong
- Fabric front panel
- Interchangeable covers
- Same engine as Shorai Curve
- Wi-Fi as standard
Hisense
PremiumMulti Function II
Single finish — white
£££££ indicative
A whole house - cooling, heating and hot water in one
- One outdoor unit does three jobs
- Up to 9 indoor units
- 230L hot water cylinder
- Hot water free while cooling
Midea
MidSolstice
2 finishes
£££££ indicative
A modern room where the unit should look considered rather than clinical
- White or charcoal black
- AI-driven performance
- App and voice control
- Built-in air purification
Midea
PremiumBreezeless E
Single finish — white
£££££ indicative
Anyone who has hated air conditioning before
- 7,928 micro-holes - no draught
- UVC sterilisation lamp
- Bio HEPA filtration
- Energy dashboard in the app
Midea
PremiumPenrose XT
Single finish — mirror
£££££ indicative
A large room that needs an even temperature without a draught down one side
- 180° wide-angle airflow
- Graphite black with a mirrored front
- Ultra-quiet operation
- Vertical heating for cold starts
Bosch
EntryClimate 3200i
Single finish — white
£££££ indicative
A dependable unit with a name the customer recognises
- Five-year guarantee as standard
- Simple controls
- Wi-Fi optional
- Wide capacity range
Bosch
MidClimate 5000 M
Single finish — white
£££££ indicative
Two or more rooms where there is only one sensible place for an outdoor unit
- One outdoor unit, up to five rooms
- Outdoor sizes 4.1kW to 12.3kW
- Each room keeps its own temperature
- All rooms heat or cool together, not both at once
Bosch
PremiumClimate 7000i
2 finishes
£££££ indicative
The better Bosch, in black or white
- Seven-year guarantee via accredited installer
- Black or white fascia
- Wi-Fi as standard
- Quieter at 19dB
Nothing matches all of those at once. Loosen one filter — or call us, because that combination usually means the answer is a different format rather than a different brand.
Beyond the wall unit
The other six ways to do it
A wall unit is not the only option, and in some rooms it is the wrong one. These bands are for the format itself — the brand choice above still applies on top.
Single split
£££££One indoor unit, one outdoor unit
The standard domestic install. One room, one box outside.
When it makes sense: Almost every first installation. The bands above are all single splits.
Multi-split
£££££Up to five rooms, one outdoor unit
Several indoor units sharing one condenser, so you are not hanging four boxes on the wall outside.
When it makes sense: Two or more rooms, or where there is only one sensible place to put an outdoor unit.
Ceiling cassette
£££££Flush into the ceiling, four-way airflow
Sits in the ceiling void with only a grille visible, throwing air in four directions.
When it makes sense: Shops, offices and large open rooms with a suspended or accessible ceiling.
Ducted
£££££Completely hidden
The unit sits in a loft or void and feeds grilles in the ceiling. Nothing is visible in the room.
When it makes sense: New builds and renovations where the ceiling is coming down anyway. Cheapest to hide, dearest to fit.
Ceiling / floor
£££££Mounts high or low, no ceiling void needed
A slim unit that works either mounted high on a wall or at floor level.
When it makes sense: Rooms with no ceiling void and no wall space at high level.
Whole-home system
£££££Cooling, heating and hot water together
One outdoor unit running indoor units, underfloor heating or radiators, and a hot water cylinder.
When it makes sense: A renovation or new build where the heating is being replaced anyway.
The format usually decides more than the brand does
People agonise over Daikin against Samsung and then put a wall unit somewhere a cassette belonged. Getting the format right — where the air comes from, where the pipes run, what the room will tolerate visually — makes more difference to whether you like the system than the badge on the front. That is the part of the survey worth your attention.
Straight answers
What each manufacturer is actually good at
We install and service all of these, and none of them pays us to say this. Here is the honest one-liner on each.
Daikin
The default premium choice. Strong design range, excellent dealer network.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Not Mitsubishi Electric - a separate company. Quietly the efficiency leader on this page.
Fujitsu
Quietly competent. Good value at the sizes most houses need.
Samsung
Best-in-class draught-free cooling and the quietest small units we fit.
Panasonic
One well-judged range rather than five. Consistent efficiency throughout.
Toshiba
Compressor pedigree - Toshiba build the compressors a lot of rivals use.
Hisense
Here for one thing: the only system we fit that does cooling, heating and hot water together.
Midea
Enormous global maker. Punches above its price on comfort features.
Bosch
Familiar name, straightforward kit, five-year guarantee as standard.
Common questions
Why will you not just put prices on the page?+
Because a price without a survey is a guess, and the number that matters is the installed price, not the kit price. Two identical units in two houses can differ by four figures once you account for the pipe run, the drainage, the electrical work and whether anyone needs scaffolding. The bands tell you where a range sits against its rivals, which is the thing that is genuinely hard to find out.
Does a higher band mean a better unit?+
It means a more expensive one. Sometimes that buys efficiency you will get back on the bills, sometimes it buys a nicer looking fascia, and sometimes it buys features you will never touch. The most expensive unit on this page is not the right answer for a spare bedroom, and the cheapest is not the right answer for a room you sit in every evening.
Which brand do you actually recommend?+
It depends on the room, but the honest pattern is this: for a plain bedroom the Fujitsu Standard Series or the Toshiba Shorai Curve is very hard to beat on cost per year of service. For a room where the unit will be looked at, the Daikin and Toshiba design ranges are worth the jump. If a draught is the thing you hate, start with Samsung or the Midea Breezeless. We will tell you the same thing on the phone.
Are these bands the same as the AC Selector prices?+
No. The AC Selector gives you an indicative installed price for a specific unit in a specific room. This page is a map of the market, kit only, so you can see where things sit relative to each other before you get that far.
Do you only fit these brands?+
Yes, and we service them all too. We are not tied to one manufacturer, which is why we can tell you when the cheaper option is the sensible one. We fit and service several brands that are not listed here — this page is the range we actively recommend and keep parts knowledge current on.
What about running costs?+
SEER and SCOP are the numbers to look at, and they are on every card above. Roughly, a SEER of 9 against a SEER of 7 is about a fifth less electricity for the same cooling. Over ten years in a room used daily, that gap can outweigh the difference in purchase price — which is exactly why the cheapest unit is not always the cheapest unit.
Narrowed it down?
Tell us the two or three you are torn between and the rooms you want doing. We will tell you which one suits the room, what it costs installed, and where you would be paying for something you will not use.