A lean-to kitchen is a glazed roof, a hob and very little wall. The decision is one indoor unit that cools the place you sit, mounted off the cooker and out of the extractor's throw, with condensate taken to a drain. Survey the glass and the remaining masonry before you size it. The outdoor unit has to go on a wall that can carry it, which may be the main house rather than the lean-to itself. An F-gas certified company installs the pair. The extract fan still has to remove cooking fumes.
Solar through the roof and heat from the hob
The heat is solar through the lean-to roof and the gain from the hob and oven. The survey should see both, at the time you actually cook and eat. A small internal kitchen figure copied from a floor plan will not hold a south-facing lean-to at lunch. Shading and a working extractor reduce the load. They do not replace a survey. Say this is a lean-to kitchen. Photos of the glazed roof, the hob and extractor, the table end, and the main house wall outside, plus where a pad could sit if the lean-to frame is light, are the set.
The table end, not the cooker
Hang the indoor unit toward the table end, throwing along the lean-to, not above the hob where grease loads the coil and the extract fights the vane. If the only solid wall is beside the cooker, say so. A floor console at the table end is worth a look only when a low wall exists and a high wall does not. The people who need cooling are at the table. Use the solid wall at that end if it exists.
A house wall or a pad, not the glazed frame
Lean-to frames, glazed bars and a slender rear wall often cannot carry a condenser. The usual place is the main house wall above the lean-to, or a pad beside it, if airflow and Planning Portal conditions in England allow.
- Size the roof glass and the cooking, together.
- Keep the indoor unit off the hob and the extractor.
- Leave the extract to do fumes.
Height from the lean-to to the bracket
Drilling down through the glazed roof for a short pipe is how leaks start. Bring the pipes out through a solid wall. Height from a wall unit in the lean-to up to a bracket on the house, or down to a pad, still has to suit the model. A multi-split that also picks up bedrooms from this cramped spot fails when the pipe length or the only lawful position is wrong. Cool the lean-to as its own zone if that is the room that overheats.
A pipe you can clean, and grease on the coil
Kitchens already make moisture. The split adds condensate that must leave by gravity to a gully or by a pump, on a pipe you can clean. Do not terminate it into the lean-to roof gutter as the only plan, and do not leave it to run down the inside of the glass. Do not drip condensate into the lean-to gutter and hope. Grease on a coil beside a hob becomes a service call. The mounting position is how you avoid it.
Glass on a cold morning, and the extractor still doing fumes
As a 2026 illustration, one lean-to zone with a nearby solid wall is often in the low thousands including VAT. A pad because the lean-to cannot carry the outdoor unit, or a pump because there is no gully at the low end, is the extra to have written down. A reverse-cycle unit also heats a space that is all glass on a cold morning. The extract removes fumes. The split cools the room. You want both doing their own job, not blowing into each other. Ask for the indoor unit at the table end, model codes, and a condensate route to a gully. Ask whether the outdoor unit can go on the house wall rather than on the lean-to. Say you still need the extractor for cooking. The outdoor unit hangs on the lean-to frame only if that frame and wall were built to carry it, which most glazed lean-tos are not. A house wall or a ground pad is the usual answer after a survey.
Frequently asked questions
Can the air conditioner sit over the cooker?
No. Grease and the extractor make it a poor spot, and the people who need cooling are at the table. Use the solid wall at that end if it exists.
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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.