A snug is a small room where people sit still, often in the evening, close to the walls. Choose a modest reverse-cycle split, keep the throw off the sofa, and judge noise on the low fan you will actually use. A large unit short-cycles and draughts a room this size. The TV side and the only solid wall may be the same wall, so say where you sit. F-gas installation applies. In England, check Planning Portal conditions for the outdoor unit, especially if the snug is a rear extension hard on the boundary.
Two chairs, a screen and a small gain
Snugs are a couple of chairs, a sofa and a screen. The heat is people, a television, and sometimes a west-facing window or a roof lantern left over from the extension. A small domestic capacity, often at the lower end after a survey, matches that. Copying the lounge kW will overcool the room in ten minutes. Size for a small occupied room. Say if a lantern or a big window is the real load.
The room you use instead of heating the house
Heating mode matters if this is the room you use on a cold evening instead of lighting the rest of the house. Energy Saving Trust describes that air-to-air job. The split still only heats this room. A reverse-cycle unit will heat that room. It will not heat the rest of the house or your hot water. Ask for heating capacity, not only cooling kW.
Heads, the sofa and the fan you will leave on
Keep the jet off the sofa.
- Size for a small occupied room.
- Keep the jet off the sofa.
- Ask for low-fan dB(A), not only the brochure minimum.
The sofa wall and the television wall
The quiet place for a unit is often the wall the sofa sits against, which puts heads in the throw, or the wall the TV is on. A throw along the room above the picture rail is usually kinder than a unit opposite the only window. Opposite a window in a small snug short-cycles and chills the seats. If you sit under the only solid wall, prefer a throw along the room that misses heads. If that wall is impossible, say so and ask for vane direction and a low fan rather than a bigger unit.
A chimney pier and a unit that can turn down
Corner snugs with a chimney breast may have only one pier. Say so. A corner mount is a draught and a dead zone. If the pier is all you have, ask for a vane along the longer dimension and a unit that can modulate. A snug is where people notice fan noise because the television is low and nobody is walking around. Ask for the low-fan sound pressure in dB(A) on that model, and ask whether that fan speed holds the setpoint.
Wrong when the lounge size is copied into the snug
Usually the lounge size is too big. A snug overcools and short-cycles. Survey the small room on its own. The outdoor unit on the extension wall can be louder in the room than the fascia. Ask for mounts. Use an F-gas certified company. If the outdoor spot is the boundary of a rear extension, read the Planning Portal conditions before the bracket is promised.
Core buying guides
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How this guide was prepared
This guide was written by the Local AC Installers Editorial Team. We compare official guidance, legislation and established consumer information, separate general information from project-specific advice, and show publication dates and sources. We do not accept installer accreditation claims at face value.