Air Conditioning

Most air conditioning complaints we hear in Sydney are not about the brand. They come from a unit that is the wrong size, in the wrong place, or installed without the right approvals. Here is what we check before we quote.

• Size to the heat gain. A west-facing living room with big glass, or a bedroom under a poorly insulated roof, can need far more cooling than its floor area suggests. An oversized unit cools the air quickly and switches off before it has pulled much moisture out, leaving rooms cold but clammy on humid days.
• Site the outdoor unit for airflow and neighbours. Condensers need clear space to breathe and should not discharge hot air into a narrow side passage. NSW noise rules restrict when an air conditioner can be heard inside a neighbour's home at night, so we keep units away from boundary bedrooms and fit anti-vibration mounts.
• Plan the condensate. Indoor heads produce water whenever they cool. It must drain to an approved point, not drip onto a balcony or into a garden bed against the slab.
• Check strata first. In apartments and townhouses the owners corporation usually has to approve the condenser location, wall penetrations and pipe covers. We can supply the product specifications and layout the committee typically asks for.

When we suggest something other than AC

Reverse-cycle split systems are the cheapest way to cool one or two rooms. For a whole home, especially where someone suffers from allergies or dislikes draughts, we often recommend hydronic cooling through fan coils or underfloor instead. And if you also need new hot water, the MAXA Total-One combines up to three indoor heads with a 190-litre cylinder, which can make more sense than buying an AC system and a separate hot water unit.

Compare the options on our ducted vs hydronic heating page, read the full specifications on the MAXA Total-One page, or see how hydronic cooling in Sydney handles humid summers without the draughts of a ducted system.