Office air conditioning: the full guide

Choosing air conditioning for an office is not just a matter of hanging a unit on the wall. The right system depends on the floor area, the number of workstations and the building itself, while regulation sets out the employer’s obligations without fixing a universal temperature threshold. This guide covers the available solutions, the rules worth knowing and the budget to plan for a cool summer and a comfortable office year round.

Which air conditioner suits an office?

The right system starts with the layout of the premises. A private or management office is often well served by a compact wall-mounted split unit, discreet and simple to fit on an external wall. A low console, placed on the floor like a radiator, suits rooms where no outer wall is accessible or where appearance rules out a more visible unit.

For an open space or a floor with several workstations, a ducted system hidden above a false ceiling distributes cool air through discreet vents, with no visible unit in the room. This solution needs heavier building work but scales better to large floor areas and several temperature zones.

The table below summarises the most common options:

Much like choosing a sit-stand desk , air conditioning is one of the fittings that shapes day-to-day comfort at a workstation and deserves to be assessed before installation rather than fixed after the fact.

What does regulation say about office temperature?

Contrary to a common assumption, no French text sets a universal temperature ceiling or floor for office space. Labour law does, however, place a general safety obligation on the employer: premises must be ventilated and kept at a temperature compatible with employees’ health, given the nature of their work.

In practice, INRS , the French public body for occupational health and safety, recommends switching on a building’s collective air conditioning only once the indoor temperature passes 26 degrees Celsius, balancing thermal comfort against energy use. This benchmark, used by many companies in their internal guidelines, mostly helps decide when systems should turn on rather than setting a strict legal limit.

During a heatwave, the employer still has to adapt how work is organised: access to cool water, adjusted schedules, or even limiting use of the most exposed rooms until a lasting solution is found. The workplace risk assessment document should cover this risk wherever premises are particularly exposed, for instance under a roof or behind large glass façades.

Portable air conditioning: a solution without building work

When fitting a fixed system is not realistic in the short term, for instance in premises rented for a limited period, a portable air conditioner offers a quick answer. It plugs into a standard socket, vents through a duct placed in a partly open window, and can be moved from room to room as needed.

This solution suits occasional top-up cooling well, a meeting room that heats up in the afternoon, or a temporary office while building work is pending. It remains less quiet and less efficient than a fixed system over a large area, though, and extended use weighs more heavily on the electricity bill. For a meeting room used heavily and on a lasting basis, it is worth comparing this option with a fixed system when fitting out a modern meeting room , where air conditioning is one more technical fitting to plan for from the design stage.

How much does office air conditioning cost, installation and upkeep included?

Budget varies considerably with the technology and the area to cover. For a standard office of around 40 square metres with half a dozen workstations, a wall-mounted split typically costs between 2,500 and 4,500 euros, fitting included. A ducted system, better suited to large floors, is usually priced between 80 and 120 euros excluding tax per square metre.

On top of installation comes mandatory annual servicing, which checks the filters, the refrigerant charge and the overall condition of the unit. This servicing affects both the equipment’s lifespan and indoor air quality, since a clogged filter spreads more dust and particles through the office.

A portable air conditioner costs noticeably less to buy, with no fitting costs, but its electricity use relative to its cooling output remains less favourable than a fixed system over time.

Air conditioning included in a flexible office: a comfort criterion worth checking

For a company that rents its premises rather than owning them, the air conditioning budget question does not always arise the same way. In a flexible office such as those run by Morning , air conditioning, its servicing and maintenance are generally bundled into the contract, with no upfront investment or technical management left to the tenant.

This criterion is worth checking when comparing fully equipped office offers, alongside the other fit-out elements that shape day-to-day comfort. Office design trends are, in fact, moving toward workspaces where thermal comfort and air quality matter as much as location or cost per desk.

Good practices for a pleasant office climate

Beyond choosing the right unit, a few simple habits avoid the most common frustrations. A single shared thermostat in an open space often creates disagreements between colleagues with different sensitivity to cold: agreeing on a stable temperature range, rather than adjusting it to individual preference, limits this friction day to day.

Airing out the premises early in the morning before temperatures rise, closing blinds on the sunny side and avoiding sharp gaps between indoor and outdoor temperature also help reduce how hard the air conditioning has to work without sacrificing comfort. In collaborative spaces shared by several teams at once, these simple rules, posted or reinforced by office management, keep air conditioning from becoming a recurring source of tension between occupants.