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Pakenham, VIC, servicing within 75 kmOpen Mon–Fri · 8:00 am – 4:00 pmABN 35 607 575 280 · Plumbing Lic. 46828
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Aircon Installation · Pakenham & within 75 km

Split system air conditioning

A split system is the simplest air conditioner there is: one box outside, one head inside, a pair of copper lines between them. That simplicity is the whole argument. There's less to buy, less to run and less to go wrong, and most go in back-to-back in a single morning without anyone taking a day off work.

Get my free quote →Or call (03) 5947 8000
  • 2.5 – 7.1 kWCapacity
  • 3 – 4 hoursTime on site
  • Up to 3 – 5 mLine-set included
  • 5-yr manufacturer + 6-yr workmanshipWarranty
What you get

What’s in the price.

One outdoor unit, one indoor head. The right answer for a bedroom, a living room or a granny flat: the simplest system there is, the least to run, and the quickest to get in. Most go in back-to-back in a single morning.

Sized to the room. 2.5 kW for bedrooms, 5.0 kW for living, 7.1 kW for large open-plan. An oversized unit short-cycles: it hits the set point, stops, and never runs long enough to actually dehumidify. It costs more to buy and more to run, so the size is a decision, not a default.

Choose your system

The aircon installation options, side by side.

You're reading about split system air conditioning. Here it is next to everything else we fit, in case it isn't the one.

A reverse-cycle wall split heating and cooling a living room
from $2,199 installed

Reverse cycle air conditioning

Mitsubishi Electric · Kaden

One machine that both heats and cools — a heat pump on the wall or in the roof. It's the cheapest way to heat a Melbourne home, it's now VEU-rebate eligible, and it comes in three shapes: a split for a room, multi-head for a few, ducted for the whole house.

  • One machine, both seasons — Heats in winter, cools in summer
  • About a third of gas to run — A heat pump moves heat, it doesn't burn anything
  • The VEU rebate applies — Taken off at the quote, not chased after
  • A room, or the whole home — Split · multi-head · ducted, sized to the house
See the full detail
Kaden wall split system installed high on a bedroom wall
from $2,199 installed

Split system air conditioning

Mitsubishi Electric · Kaden

One outdoor unit, one indoor head. The right answer for a bedroom, a living room or a granny flat: the simplest system there is, the least to run, and the quickest to get in. Most go in back-to-back in a single morning.

  • Sized to the room — 2.5, 5.0 or 7.1 kW — not whatever's on the truck
  • Two brands, both good — Mitsubishi Electric MSZ-AP or Kaden KSI
  • One morning — Back-to-back install in three to four hours
  • Fresh copper — New line-set every time, never the old pipe
You’re reading this one
Kaden multi-head outdoor condenser on a levelled roof stand
from $6,500 installed

Multi-head air conditioning

Mitsubishi Electric · Kaden

One outdoor unit running two to five indoor heads. Worth it when you want three bedrooms done but only have room, or body-corporate permission, for a single condenser outside.

  • One outdoor unit — Two to five heads off a single box
  • Mix the head types — Wall, floor console or bulkhead on the one system
  • One set of penetrations — Not four holes in four walls
  • Each room, its own control — Own remote, own set temperature
See the full detail
Insulated flex ductwork run through a roof space
from $12,500 installed

Ducted reverse-cycle air conditioning

Mitsubishi Electric · Kaden · Zonemate

Whole-home heating and cooling from a single system in the roof. Vents in every room, zoned so you are not paying to condition the bedrooms at 7pm. New builds and retrofits both.

  • The duct design first — We size the trunk and the branches, not just the unit
  • Mitsubishi indoor and out — PEAD-M / PEA-M with a PUZ outdoor
  • Zoning as standard — Zonemate 4, 6 or 8 zone, fitted by default
  • New duct throughout — Insulated flex, sized per branch
See the full detail
Evaporative cooler mounted on a tiled roof
from $3,900 installed

Evaporative cooling

Brivis · Kaden

Roof-mounted, runs on water and a fan rather than refrigerant. Cheap to run and moves a lot of air, which suits the drier inland suburbs. Needs windows cracked to work, and it struggles on humid days.

  • Cheap to run — A fraction of refrigerated cooling
  • Right for dry heat — Best in the drier north and east
  • Cooling only — Pair it with gas ducted for winter
  • Brivis and Kaden — Roof-mounted units we fit most
See the full detail
How it looks

A shoebox on the wall and a box outside.

The indoor head goes high on the wall, usually above a door or a bed. Outside, the condenser sits on brackets or a ground stand down the side of the house. What decides whether it looks tidy is the run between them — and that is entirely down to who fits it.

  • ~80 × 30 cmThe indoor head, mounted near the ceiling
  • Colour-matchedCapping over the pipework, not bare lagging
  • Back-to-backWhere we can, so the run is a metre not ten
  • 19 dBAOn low, on the smallest unit
The outdoor condenser on a levelled stand beside the house
Narrow it down

Which one is right for my home?

How many rooms, what's above the ceiling, and what's there now. Runs in your browser — nothing recorded, nothing sent.

How many rooms do you want done?
Is there roof space above the ceiling?
What's there now?

Answer the three and the answer appears here.

Mitsubishi MSZ-AP wall split indoor head
Keeping it working

One clean a year and it stops being a problem.

A split that gets serviced once a year runs at its rated output for fifteen years. One that doesn't loses capacity quietly, and the first anyone notices is the afternoon it can't hold the room. That is not a fault, it's a filter and a coil.

  • $220 a yearor $140 each for three or more at one address
  • Sept – Novbefore the first heatwave, not during it
  • 5 + 6 yearsmanufacturer on the unit, ours on the install
How the job runs

What happens on a split system air conditioning install.

  1. 1

    Site visit, and we walk the room

    We look at the wall you want it on, the wall it should probably go on, and where the outdoor unit can sit. Ten minutes, and it's the difference between a good install and a cheap one.

  2. 2

    Fixed price in writing

    The unit, the position, the line-set length, and anything extra the site needs — a longer run, a dedicated circuit, a bracket instead of a slab. No day-of surprises.

  3. 3

    Drop sheets, then the bracket

    Floor covered before anything else. Indoor bracket levelled and fixed into studs, not just plasterboard anchors.

  4. 4

    Core hole and line-set

    One clean core through the wall on a slight fall, insulated line-set, drain and cable through together, conduit colour-matched outside.

  5. 5

    Vacuum, charge, commission

    Pulled down to a proper vacuum and held, not just flashed. Charge checked against the data plate, superheat and subcool measured, and it runs while we watch it.

  6. 6

    Handover and clean-up

    We show you the remote, set the timer if you want one, sweep up and take the packaging with us. Compliance paperwork emailed the next business day.

Longer line-sets, a bracket instead of a ground slab, or a new dedicated circuit are the three things that most often add to a split install. All three get quoted before the day, not on it.

The brands

Who makes the split system air conditioning we fit.

Every model, spec and installed price sits on the brand page. One press each — or open the full list and filter it yourself.

Mitsubishi ElectricThe lowest failure rate in our install base, and parts still available for the ones we fitted ten years ago.KadenSplits, ducted, gas ducted and evap under one brand, so a whole house runs on one parts list. Same 6-year warranty as everything else we fit.
See the full range →Every model we install — filter by brand, system type or rebate.
Free quote

Quote for split system air conditioning.

60 seconds, no obligation, replied within 12 business hours. Rebates applied and GST included, so the number you get is the number you pay.

  • ✓ Same person quotes as installs
  • ✓ Fixed price, confirmed in writing
  • ✓ Emergency? Call (03) 5947 8000 instead
Reverse cycle air conditioningMulti-head air conditioningDucted reverse-cycle air conditioningEvaporative coolingAll aircon installation
Step 1 of 4 · 25% complete
What do you need installed?

Takes under 60 seconds. No obligation.

Common questions

Quick honest answers.

Anything else, call (03) 5947 8000.

How long does a split system install take?

A straightforward back-to-back, indoor head directly opposite the outdoor unit, is three to four hours. Longer pipe runs, upstairs installs or a difficult outdoor location can make it half a day.

What size do I need?

Roughly: 2.5 kW for a bedroom, 5.0 kW for a living room, 7.1 kW for large open-plan. But ceiling height, window aspect and insulation move it, which is why we do a room-by-room heat load rather than quoting off floor area.

Can I run it from my phone?

Yes. Mitsubishi's MELCloud module adds Wi-Fi to any indoor unit in the range. We set it up and walk you through it before we leave.

Where does the outdoor unit go?

As close to the indoor head as the pipe run allows, on a wall bracket or a ground stand, somewhere it can breathe and somewhere you are not sitting next to it. We walk the outside of the house with you before anything is drilled — it is the decision that is hardest to undo.

Will it heat as well as it cools?

Yes, and on a Melbourne winter morning it will cost you less to run than gas. A reverse-cycle split is a heat pump; it moves heat rather than burning something to make it, which is why the running cost is a fraction of a gas heater's for the same room.

How noisy is it, inside and out?

The indoor head on low is quieter than a fridge. The outdoor unit is the one worth thinking about — it is the reason we ask where the bedroom windows are and where the neighbour's are, and why we would rather move it three metres at quote time than have you ring us about it in February.

Do I need one per room?

One per room you actually want conditioned, yes — a split heats and cools the room it is in and not the one down the hall. If the answer is turning into three or four heads, a multi-head or ducted system is usually the cheaper and tidier way to get there, and we will say so rather than quote you four splits.

What happens to my old unit?

It comes off the wall, gets de-gassed properly (venting refrigerant is illegal, not just poor form), and goes with us to a metal recycler on the same visit. You do not end up with it on the nature strip.

What locals say

Reviews from households across the south-east.

4.9 / 5 on Google
★★★★★

Quoted Mon, installed Fri

“Took the old gas Rinnai out, dropped in a Reclaim heat pump, sorted the VEU rebate so it came straight off the price. Bloke on the phone is the bloke on the tools, refreshing.”

JM
Jess M.Pakenham · heat pump install
★★★★★

Rebate handled, didn't lift a finger

“The VEU paperwork looked scary online. They filled it all in, I signed once at the quote and once on the day. Rebate was already in the price. Painless.”

LM
Lauren M.Pakenham · heat pump swap
★★★★★

No surprises on the invoice

“Quote number matched the invoice exactly. No 'we hit unexpected wiring' story at the end. Nice change.”

PS
Priya S.Cranbourne · split install
★★★★★

Split install in half a day

“Bedroom Mitsubishi went in before lunch. Neat pipework, brackets straight, temp checked before they left. Would use again for the lounge.”

AP
Alex P.Cranbourne East · split
★★★★★

Quoted Mon, installed Fri

“Took the old gas Rinnai out, dropped in a Reclaim heat pump, sorted the VEU rebate so it came straight off the price. Bloke on the phone is the bloke on the tools, refreshing.”

JM
Jess M.Pakenham · heat pump install
★★★★★

Rebate handled, didn't lift a finger

“The VEU paperwork looked scary online. They filled it all in, I signed once at the quote and once on the day. Rebate was already in the price. Painless.”

LM
Lauren M.Pakenham · heat pump swap
★★★★★

No surprises on the invoice

“Quote number matched the invoice exactly. No 'we hit unexpected wiring' story at the end. Nice change.”

PS
Priya S.Cranbourne · split install
★★★★★

Split install in half a day

“Bedroom Mitsubishi went in before lunch. Neat pipework, brackets straight, temp checked before they left. Would use again for the lounge.”

AP
Alex P.Cranbourne East · split
★★★★★

Family business, feels it

“Answered the phone myself, quoted the job, showed up to install the job. That trail of trust doesn't exist with most of the bigger mobs anymore.”

TH
Tom H.Narre Warren · heat pump
★★★★★

Emergency sorted Sunday

“Hot water died on a Sunday with three kids in the house. Answered the phone, had a temp loaner running by lunch, new iStore in on Tuesday. That's service.”

SK
Sam K.Berwick · emergency hot water
★★★★★

Follow-up call was a surprise

“A week after install they rang to check the heat pump was running quiet and the app was set up. First tradie who's ever followed up after payment cleared.”

ND
Nick D.Beaconsfield · heat pump
★★★★★

Family business, feels it

“Answered the phone myself, quoted the job, showed up to install the job. That trail of trust doesn't exist with most of the bigger mobs anymore.”

TH
Tom H.Narre Warren · heat pump
★★★★★

Emergency sorted Sunday

“Hot water died on a Sunday with three kids in the house. Answered the phone, had a temp loaner running by lunch, new iStore in on Tuesday. That's service.”

SK
Sam K.Berwick · emergency hot water
★★★★★

Follow-up call was a surprise

“A week after install they rang to check the heat pump was running quiet and the app was set up. First tradie who's ever followed up after payment cleared.”

ND
Nick D.Beaconsfield · heat pump
★★★★★

Actually got up in the roof

“Had three quotes for a ducted system. These guys were the only ones who actually crawled into the roof. Middle of the pack on price but installed cleaner than the others would have.”

DR
Dean R.Officer · ducted retrofit
★★★★★

Cleaned up like nothing happened

“Full ducted retrofit over two days. When they left the roof cavity was tidier than they found it and the driveway had been swept. Small thing but it matters.”

BR
Bianca R.Berwick · ducted install
★★★★★

Explained everything

“Walked me through the Milieu tablet, showed the wife how to use it, showed us the compliance cert. Ten minutes of teaching that other installers just skip.”

MT
Marcus T.Officer · ducted aircon
★★★★★

Actually got up in the roof

“Had three quotes for a ducted system. These guys were the only ones who actually crawled into the roof. Middle of the pack on price but installed cleaner than the others would have.”

DR
Dean R.Officer · ducted retrofit
★★★★★

Cleaned up like nothing happened

“Full ducted retrofit over two days. When they left the roof cavity was tidier than they found it and the driveway had been swept. Small thing but it matters.”

BR
Bianca R.Berwick · ducted install
★★★★★

Explained everything

“Walked me through the Milieu tablet, showed the wife how to use it, showed us the compliance cert. Ten minutes of teaching that other installers just skip.”

MT
Marcus T.Officer · ducted aircon
Call the team(03) 5947 8000Free quote →