All it took was 20 mins of my time, and I managed to sort air con at home with BOXT – it’s a gamechanger for busy people

I had air conditioning from BOXT installed in my living room, and reviewed the whole process to help you decide if this is the route for you.

If you've found that a portable air conditioner doesn't fit your needs, then a permanent solution might be what you need to ensure a comfortable temperature in your home year round.

In a nutshell

After building its name by offering hassle-free next day boiler replacements, BOXT has branched out into solar panels and batteries, heat pumps, EV chargers and air conditioning.

The quick and simple process is hugely appealing — answer a few questions about your home on the website, choose from the shortlist of products (and fixed prices) that BOXT have determined will meet your needs, and then book your installation as you pay.

If you're not sure which to choose, there is an online chat function or you can email or called the BOXT team so expert advice is never far away. Then you just upload a few photographs for the technical team to check over to make sure it's all suitable.

All in all, I think the time input on my part was less than 20 minutes (including the ordering process, taking the necessary pictures and any conversations around the installation), which is why I think those who don't have a lot of free time to dedicate to home upgrades like this will appreciate.

With BOXT, you pick your installation date to suit your schedule, which can be as soon as the next day, provided you place your order and submit your photographs by a certain time, and provided the technical team are happy the installation can go off without a hitch.

Ordering the air con

I really appreciated how easy the BOXT website was to use — I was clearly guided through the process, and there are helpful pictures and notes to help you understand why they are asking the question and what to do if your answer falls outside the multiple-choice answer options.

While some of the questions are super-straightforward, such as what type of property do you live in or how much sunlight does the room get, to answer others, you will need a little more information to hand.

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You'll need to answer some simple questions before booking your installation, and it can help to have some information to hand before you start

Firstly, you'll need to have an idea of where you want the air conditioning to be installed. This will include how many rooms you want it installed in, and where you ideally want the indoor and outdoor unit installed.

Secondly, it's really helpful to have an idea of the area of the room(s) where you want the air con installed as this will help ensure you choose the right product with the right power output.

Lastly, you will need to measure how much space there is between the outside wall (where you want the outdoor air con unit) and the boundary of your property. This is to ensure the unit can be installed with sufficient air flow around it. You can also choose whether you want this unit to be floor mounted, wall-mounted low (both of which are included in the fixed price), or wall-mounted high (which will cost extra).

Once you have answered the nine questions and entered your postcode, you will find a page that lists all of the products that would be suitable for you, along with the prices and product specifications.

As I only wanted air conditioning in one room, there was only one option for me to choose from (a single-split Daikin Sensira) so it was an easy and quick choice. There were also multi-split options (for if you want air con in more than one room) from Bosch. These were the only two manufacturers available to choose from.

Arranging installation

Once you've chosen your air con unit, you need to go through to make the payment and book the installation. You can pay upfront or in instalments, and by credit or debit card, using Apple Pay or Google Pay, or using PayPal.

And the good news is you don't have long to wait. If you order before 3pm, you will likely be able to book installation for the next day. But be aware, if you do want it done the next day, you will need to submit photos for the technical team to have a look at straight after submitting your order. If you don't, your installation could be delayed.

But you don't have to choose a next day option, you can book installation for a date that suits you. I chose a date a couple of weeks from when I placed the order to give myself a bit of time.

I also opted for a Friday installation date, as to go for a weekend slot would cost £100 more.

As soon as I placed the order, I received an email asking me to submit my pictures (and you get a daily reminder until you've done it). You can either click on the link in the email to upload your pictures or you can download the BOXT app and upload them through there. I chose the app.

If you're worried that you don't know what pictures to send, then the good news is that as soon as you click through to upload the pictures, you are given the specifics of what you need to send, including example images showing what is helpful and unhelpful to the technical team.

In my case, I needed to submit a picture of:

• The outside wall where the unit would be installed
• The indoor wall where the internal unit would be installed
• My electricity meter
• My fuse board
• The front of my house.

Over the next couple of days I had a couple of phone calls from BOXT's technical team regarding the installation. As I wanted the indoor unit installed above the fireplace (which is never used), we needed to make sure it was capped off in order to be safe.

BOXT were really clear and helpful explaining my options (without resorting to technical jargon) and made sure that everything was set ahead of the installation day.

I was also informed about who was coming to fit the air con (an air con installer and an electrician) and when I could expect them to arrive. The day before, I also received texts from the air con installer and electrician, who had a couple of extra questions and confirmed their ETA.

What was the installation process like?

The night before the installation I made sure to clear the space around where the air con would be installed both inside and out to ensure the installers had sufficient space to work without worrying about damage to my belongings.

On installation day, all of the kit was delivered to my house and arrived just before the installers. It came in three cardboard boxes, one for the outdoor unit, one for the indoor unit, and another with all the fixtures and fittings. (All of the packaging was removed by the installers, so I wasn't left with a full recycling bin or having to make a trip to the tip!)

Both installers (Luke and Connor) were super friendly, and talked me through what they needed to do and were prepared to answer any questions I had. Any installers working for BOXT are vetted, scored and audited, so I felt reassured that they would do a good job.

When it came to installing the air con units, I was consulted about where specifically I wanted them. For the indoor unit, this was pretty straightforward, as I wanted it to sit centrally above the (now-defunct) fireplace.

For the outdoor unit, which is located in the fenced-in side access to my garden where I keep my bins), I was keen to ensure that I could still manoeuvre my bins as I needed to, and had enough space to open the gate and move through to the garden without any hassle. Connor listened to my requests and suggested the perfect place. He also suggested wall-mounting it to avoid any trip hazard.

I also wanted to keep anything visible from the street to a minimum, and so Connor made sure that most of the trunking (that covers the pipework from the internal unit to the external unit) was mostly installed below the fence level.

It took a couple of hours to fit the indoor unit, which involved drilling a hole through to the outside to pass the pipework through, and installing metal brackets to attach the indoor unit to. Dust sheets were put up, and every effort was made to keep mess to a minimum. and both installers cleaned up after themselves so well there wasn't a trace they had ever been here!

The outside work took another couple of hours, and then the air con was checked by the installer before I was given a detailed tutorial of how to use it and an explanation of the different modes. I was also advised on how to maintain it and when to get it serviced (annually is best to ensure you get the maximum lifespan).

What's the air con like to use?

My BOXT installer made sure I understood how to use my new air con. The Daikin Sensira does more than just cool, it also works as a heater, dehumidifier and fan, which takes it's purpose way beyond the relatively few heatwaves we might have each year.

It's largely operated using a remote control, but there are also little fins to direct the air flow that you can adjust manually, via a little tab on the unit itself.

Fan-wise, you have five different speeds (the higher the speed the noisier it becomes, similar to an in-car air conditioning system). There is also a whisper-quiet speed that is virtually undetectable, yet still offers effective cooling. When in air con mode, this is the fan option I use most often.

When it comes to temperature, in cooling mode, it goes down as low as 18°C, but I find 22°C to be the most pleasant temperature (it kept me plenty cool even when it was 30°C outside). In heat mode, you can go up to 30°C. There's also an auto mode, where the unit will heat and cool to a specified temperature, a dehumidifier mode, and a comfort mode that uses a sensor on the indoor unit to keep the air flow away from people in the room (so they don't feel like they are sitting in a draft.

In addition there is a timer function, that would be incredibly useful for nighttime use in bedroom installations.

Is BOXT air conditioning worth it?

If you want to upgrade your home with built-in air con, then using BOXT is a quick and simple way to achieve that. For me, it was completely hassle-free, although some installations may be more complex than others and may involve more involvement from a technical point of view.

As well as being an ideal solution for those who are time poor, going through the questionnaire was really easy, and I feel confident that older generations would be able to navigate the process too.

While there's not loads of involvement needed from the customer throughout, the team at BOXT make sure they communicate regularly, and there are multiple channels you can use to make contact and get a quick answer to any questions you have or to find any support you might need.

The simplicity and speed of the process are definite huge pros to using BOXT, but the absolute winner for me was the standard of the customer service. Not only was everyone I encountered along the way incredibly friendly, knowledgeable and helpful, but the installers obviously took pride in what they were doing and were incredibly conscientious about leaving my home spick and span once the work was complete.

When it comes to the air con itself, it's been an absolute game changer. My house was prone to overheating, which made heatwaves intolerable. Now I have a space where I can control the environment and ensure a comfortable space year round, regardless of what the weather is doing outside.

While I highly recommend getting air con installed at home, especially when it has purpose beyond a summer heatwave, it's worth just preparing yourself for a compromise you'll need to make.