If you do not want a high wall box, the alternatives are a floor console or a ducted unit, and only when the fabric can take them. A floor console is still a box, sat low. A ducted unit hides the fan coil in a real void, cupboard or loft and blows through grilles. Plenty of UK rooms have neither the void nor a low wall that works. The survey decides. It should not promise a hidden install the house cannot hold. Refrigerant work stays with an F-gas certified company.
Standing under a low ceiling with no loft hatch
A bedroom with a low ceiling and no cupboard will not grow a duct. A chimney breast is not a void. A shallow loft, a joist zone full of cables, or a flat with a concrete soffit often has nowhere for a fan coil, a duct run, filter access and a condensate route. In those rooms the honest answer is a wall unit, placed as calmly as the wall allows, or no fixed split until the fabric changes. Photos of the ceiling, any cupboard or loft hatch, the low wall under the window and the outdoor elevation are what let a firm say which option the room can actually take.
Ducts, a floor console, or the wall you already have
Anyone who tells you every house can hide the unit is skipping the survey.
- Ducted: a real void, cupboard or loft, plus grilles and a drain.
- Floor console: a low wall and a pipe route, and the box remains visible.
- Wall unit: the default when neither of those exists.
- The survey should refuse a hidden layout the joists cannot take.
A pelmet that starves the coil
Boxing in a wall unit with a joinery pelmet can calm the look, and it can also starve the coil of air and block the filter. If you want joinery, the installer has to agree the clearances before the carpenter builds them. Only the clearances the manufacturer allows for airflow and filters are acceptable. A tight pelmet that looks tidy can stop the unit cooling and make it noisy. Open-plan rooms with a lantern roof often have one scrap of solid wall. That scrap may be the only lawful place for a high unit. Spending the budget on a cassette that needs a ceiling void you do not have delays the job. Measure the void, or accept the wall.
The outdoor unit is still on the elevation
Hiding the indoor unit does not hide the outdoor unit. The condenser, the bracket and the Planning Portal conditions in England are the same problem either way. A ducted job can even need a larger indoor unit and a longer drain, so the outdoor choice still has to be quiet enough for the neighbour. Compare model codes, not adjectives. A floor console and a wall unit at the same duty are different sizes and different sound figures. As a 2026 illustration, ducted work in a house that truly has a void is often a clear step up from a single wall split, because of grilles, access and making good. It is poor value in a house that needs the ceilings rebuilt to create that void. A floor console suits a room where the only solid wall is under a window. It does not disappear.
Stop when the joists cannot take a hidden unit
The reply should say which option the room can actually take, with model codes, where the fan coil or console sits, how filters are reached, and how condensate leaves. If the answer is a wall unit, you want that said plainly rather than a drawing of ducts that will not fit. A survey that finds no void, cupboard or loft should specify a wall or floor model, or stop.
Frequently asked questions
Can every house have a hidden ducted system?
No. Ducted needs a void, a cupboard or a loft that can take the unit, the ducts and a drain. A survey that finds none of those should specify a wall or floor model, or stop.
Is a floor console invisible?
No. It is a lower box, useful when the high wall is glass or the bed sits under the only high wall. It is a placement choice, not a hidden system.
Core buying guides
Start with these high-intent guides, then dig into the rest of the library.
Related guides
Sources and further reading
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.