Home-office retrofit in a Macclesfield terrace

Daniel runs a software consultancy from the converted box room of his 1900s Macclesfield terrace. South-facing, single-glazed in the original sash, and uncomfortable above 22°C — which between May and September was most of the time.

The Haori was the right unit for two reasons. First, the fabric finish (rather than the standard plastic facade) sat more comfortably with the period of the room. Second, at 19 dBA on low fan it's effectively silent — important when the room doubles as the recording space for a podcast Daniel hosts.

Sizing was conservative: 2.5kW for a 12m² room is plenty, and avoids the on-off cycling that a 3.5kW unit would do for most of the day. Pipework went through a redundant chimney void we cleared, and the condenser sat on the gable wall above the back-yard wall — visible from the street but not unsightly.

Install took a single day. Daniel sent a thank-you note three weeks later saying the room was 'finally usable in July', and the podcast audio quality had measurably improved with the AC running.