A staff room is a small welfare space with a lunchtime peak, a kettle, a fridge and sometimes a microwave or a hob. It is empty for long stretches. A modest split or a zone from a nearby system can make breaks tolerable. It should not be used as the extract for cooking grease, and it does not need to run at a deep setpoint all weekend. Survey the moisture, the drain and the hours. HSE's guidance on workplace temperature is the backdrop for the people who use the room, not a licence to set 16C and leave it.
An hour of kettles, then an empty room
The load is people plus small appliances for about an hour, then almost nothing. An inverter unit that can tick over, plus a timer or a BMS schedule, fits that pattern. A fixed blast sized for a fantasy canteen will be noisy and then switched off. Size for the lunchtime peak, then let it set back. A timer beats a unit left running all weekend. If the room has no opening window, say so. Cooling will help the temperature. Fresh air still has to come from somewhere on the ventilation design. A stuffy room at 22C will still attract complaints. The staff room can share the shop cassette only if the shop unit can serve both zones properly and grease from any cooking stays out of it. A door that is shut at lunchtime means the staff room is not being served. Give it a zone if it needs one.
Steam, a Friday pump and whose name is on the lease
Steam from a kettle is a condensate load. Grease from a small hob is a filter load. A ducted hood or a recirculating hood is a kitchen question. The comfort unit should not be the thing that captures that plume. Keep hob grease out of the comfort unit. Place the indoor unit so the return is not beside the hob, and clean the filter on a short interval if people fry lunch. Drains in staff rooms get forgotten because the room is nobody's plant room. A pump that fails on a Friday will stain the ceiling over the weekend. Specify the outlet and who checks it. In a let building the staff room may be inside the tenant demise or it may be a shared landlord room. The lease decides maintenance. The F-gas operator is whoever has actual control. Agree which, so the filter does not wait for a dispute. A competent electrician provides the circuit. The refrigerant work stays with an F-gas certified company. GOV.UK publishes that certification. If this room is a small part of a large system, leak checks follow the whole charge's carbon-dioxide equivalent on current GOV.UK rules, and an air conditioning inspection may apply to that larger system. Employers must provide reasonable thermal comfort under HSE guidance, which includes minimums that have long been published and no legal maximum. Air conditioning is one way to get there in a hot, sealed room. It is not the only way, and the lease may decide who provides plant. Welfare comfort sits under that reasonable-temperature guidance. It is not a licence to set 16C and leave it.
A mid-20s break and an off switch for the weekend
As a 2026 illustration, a straightforward single split for a small staff room often falls in the same broad installed band as other light commercial singles, commonly the low thousands of pounds including VAT when access is ordinary. Sharing a multi-split outdoor with a nearby office can save a condenser position and add pipework. Compare both on a drawing. Set a cooling figure in the mid 20s for occupied breaks and a clear off or setback outside the working day. The saving is habit, not a more expensive badge. The room should not usually run all weekend. Schedule it for occupied hours. A fridge of food is not a reason to hold the room at a deep cooling setpoint until Monday. Energy Saving Trust's air-to-air pages describe the split. They do not set the lunchtime hours.
Frequently asked questions
Is a staff room entitled to air conditioning?
Employers must provide reasonable thermal comfort under HSE guidance, which includes minimums that have long been published and no legal maximum. Air conditioning is one way to get there in a hot, sealed room. It is not the only way, and the lease may decide who provides plant.
Can the staff room share the shop cassette?
Only if the shop unit can serve both zones properly and grease from any cooking stays out of it. A door that is shut at lunchtime means the staff room is not being served. Give it a zone if it needs one.
Should it run all weekend?
Usually no. Schedule it for occupied hours. A fridge of food is not a reason to hold the room at a deep cooling setpoint until Monday.
What happens if the condensate pump fails on a Friday?
A pump that fails on a Friday will stain the ceiling over the weekend. Specify the outlet and who checks it. Steam from a kettle is a condensate load, so the route has to be real before the first lunchtime.
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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.