Buying in Mallorca: What to Check About the Air Conditioning
Key takeaways
- Viewings happen in spring, when almost any system looks fine.
- Ask what refrigerant it uses. The answer can change the arithmetic.
- Count the rooms with no unit, not the units.
- A system with no service history is an unknown, not necessarily a bad one.
Most viewings happen outside the season, when a system that will struggle in August performs perfectly well. That is worth knowing before assuming the climate side of a property is settled, because replacing or extending a system is one of the larger discretionary costs a new owner meets in the first year.
At the viewing
- Count the rooms with no unit at all, and ask yourself which of them you would use in July
- Look at where the outdoor units are: in shade or in full afternoon sun, and how much clearance they have
- Look at the outdoor coils. Fins that are grey, furred or flattened tell you about the location and the servicing
- Look under each indoor unit for a mark on the wall, which means the drain has backed up before
- Note the ceiling type. Solid slab means split units are the realistic option for anything you add
- Check whether the units all look the same age, or whether one is obviously newer
- Ask to have the system switched on, and listen to the outdoor unit rather than the indoor one
What to ask the seller or the agent
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| How old is the system? | Not decisive on its own, but it frames everything else. |
| What refrigerant does it use? | On older equipment a leak can become a supply problem rather than a repair. |
| Who services it, and when was it last done? | A named company and a recent date is worth a great deal. |
| Has anything been repaired, and what? | A pattern of repeat faults is the strongest single signal. |
| Is it the original system for the house as it is now? | Extensions and glazed terraces add load that nobody added capacity for. |
| Is there heating, and what is it? | If the property will be used in winter, this is often the larger gap. |
| What does the community allow, in a flat? | It decides what can be added and where, and it is not the seller decision. |
Findings that should change what you expect to spend
Several rooms with no provision at all, in a property you intend to use through the summer, is the largest of them, because it is an installation rather than a repair. A system that is old and running an obsolete refrigerant is the second, since the next leak is the end of it. A single outdoor unit serving the whole house, in a property that will be let, is a third: one fault takes every bedroom out at once.
And in a flat, the absence of any accepted position for an outdoor unit is worth establishing before completion rather than after. It is the one constraint a new owner cannot solve alone.
Findings that matter less than they look
Dirty filters and a grubby outdoor coil look bad and are usually a service rather than a fault. Mismatched units of different ages are common and fine, provided each works. A drain that has dripped once is not a condemnation. And a system with no service history is an unknown rather than a problem: the sensible response is a service with the readings written down, which then becomes your baseline.
The first year
If the property is bought outside the season, the useful sequence is a proper service before the first summer, a note of what it found, and a decision after that summer rather than before it. One season tells you which rooms are genuinely uncomfortable, and that is a better basis for spending than a survey in March.
Where a renovation is planned, the order reverses entirely: the climate decisions belong in the renovation programme, because that is when the expensive options are affordable. If the existing system is old, whether to replace it covers the decision.
Can I have the air conditioning inspected before buying?
Yes, and on a property with a large or old system it is worth arranging alongside the building survey. What you want is measurements and a written note rather than an opinion, because that becomes the baseline you judge the following years against.
How can I tell if a system is undersized?
Not easily in March, which is the honest answer. What you can do is count the rooms with provision, look at the glazing and the orientation of the ones without, and ask the seller how the house behaves in August. Vague answers to that question are themselves informative.
Does a property without air conditioning cost much more to sort out?
It is an installation rather than a repair, so yes, and how much more depends on the building rather than the equipment. A property with open ceilings or a planned renovation is a very different proposition from a finished house with solid slabs.
Should this change my offer?
That is between you and whoever advises you on the purchase. What this article can say is which findings represent real future spending and which are a service visit, so the number you carry into that conversation is grounded in the building rather than a guess.
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