What changes a split install in Darwin
A lot of water
With January dew points averaging 24.2 degrees at Darwin Airport, a split running overnight pulls plenty of water out of the room. The drain has to fall steadily to somewhere sensible, not onto a neighbour's balcony or your front step.
High-set houses
On a high-set house, the outdoor unit can end up high on a wall or on a frame. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Air-Conditioners Australia's warranty terms require the unit to be safely accessible with a 1.7 metre ladder, so check your brand's access rules before it goes up high.
Louvres
Rooms with louvres or screened walls let cooled air straight out. Close the room in properly first, or the split will run flat out and still feel clammy.
Cyclone fixing
Darwin's suburbs sit in cyclonic wind region C on Lysaght's guide, and the NT Government warns that bolts, fixing plates and cyclone fixings corrode near the coast. Ask for corrosion-resistant fixings that suit the site.
Units
A quarter of Greater Darwin's homes were flats or apartments in 2021. The body corporate may control where an outdoor unit can sit, so get approval before you book.
What makes a split install bigger or smaller
A back-to-back install on a ground-level wall is the simple case. A unit high on a raised house, a long pipe run to a sheltered spot, a condensate pump where the drain can't fall, or a new circuit all add work. Mitsubishi Electric says every split needs its own dedicated power supply.
Someone with the restricted ARC RSS03 licence can install a single-head split under 18kW, but can't come back to regas or repair it. In Darwin, where systems work hard all year, an installer with a full RAC01 licence who can also service the unit is worth having. The national split system installation page covers install day.
What you can do first
You can
- Choose the room, and where you'd like the indoor unit, so the airflow isn't aimed straight at the bed.
- Close in louvres or gaps in that room before the install if you can.
- Check with the body corporate or the owner first.
Leave to a licensed installer
- Sizing for the room and the humidity.
- Pipework, charging and testing.
- Setting the drain fall, or fitting a condensate pump.
- Fixing the outdoor unit for wind and salt.
Questions to ask a split installer
- How will the condensate drain run, and where will the water end up?
- How will the outdoor unit be fixed, and are the bracket and bolts corrosion resistant?
- Can the unit be reached for servicing within the warranty's access rules?
- Is this size right for the humidity as well as the heat?
- Do you hold RAC01, so you can service and repair it later?
What we'd do
If it were our home
We'd put the first split in the main bedroom, sized for that room rather than oversized, and give the drain run and the outdoor unit's fixing as much attention as the brand. Then we'd use someone who fits splits on Darwin homes all year round, because they'll already know which walls and brackets hold up through the wet.
Send us the room you want cooled and your postcode. Licence-checked installers nearby who fit splits all the time see the job, where we have them, and only the one who takes it gets your details. If no Darwin installer takes it inside 48 hours, installers elsewhere in the Territory may see it too. Our Darwin page covers the rest.
