Split System Air Conditioning Hills District

Local knowledge

Where split systems earn their place in the Hills

The biggest split system demand in the region comes from the apartments and townhouses around Norwest, Bella Vista and the Castle Hill and Rouse Hill Metro stations. In these buildings the by-laws decide where a condenser may go, and we work within them: the approved balcony spot, the noise limit and a clean pipe route through a finished wall. Balconies behind privacy screens are a common trap, because a boxed-in outdoor unit recirculates its own hot air late on a summer afternoon. We check the airflow around the approved position before choosing the model, and supply the specifications the owners corporation asks for.

In the freestanding homes a split usually solves one problem: a converted garage, a granny flat, a home office in Baulkham Hills, or a west-facing rumpus room the old ducted system never reached. Owners of older single-storey brick houses in Winston Hills often start with a living-room split and add bedroom heads later, and a multi-head with three heads on one outdoor unit keeps the side of the house tidy. On duplex and villa blocks the question is where the condenser sits relative to the neighbours, so we look at side access before we quote.

On acreage in Dural and Glenhaven the rooms that need splits are often far apart: a studio across the garden, a guest wing, a pool room. One outdoor unit serving all of them sounds neat, but refrigerant pipe has length limits and long runs cost efficiency. Separate outdoor units near each wing are often the better answer. Wherever they go, we keep them out from under overhanging trees where we can, because coils buried in leaves lose capacity fast and are harder to reach for cleaning.