What Geelong changes about a split install
Winter sizes the unit as often as summer
Geelong is climate zone 6, like Melbourne, and the energy label map in the ACT Government's guide puts Melbourne in its cold zone. So read the red heating stars for the cold zone and the heating capacity at 2 degrees on the label, not just the cooling figure.
Salt from the bay
Within a kilometre of Corio Bay's calm water, the Galvanizers Association's corrosion guide rates the air C3, rising to C4 on the foreshore itself. Mitsubishi Electric's instructions list salty places by the sea among spots to avoid, so the outdoor unit belongs on your most sheltered wall, with air still able to reach it.
Semis and townhouses
10.5% of Greater Geelong homes are semis, terraces or townhouses, where an outdoor unit can end up close to a neighbour's window. Victorian rules say a split used for heating mustn't be heard in a neighbour's habitable room after 10pm, or after 11pm when it's cooling.
Hot afternoons
Geelong's record is 47.4 degrees. ActronAir says cooling capacity drops above 35 degrees, so a west-facing room may need a step up in size. Ask for a heat load rather than a guess from the floor area.
Where a split fits in a Geelong home
Renew's 2021 Geelong modelling used gas heating plus evaporative cooling as its basic dual-fuel home, and found the all-electric versions, heated and cooled by reverse cycle, significantly cheaper to run. A split in the main living area is the smallest move in that direction: one unit, both seasons, no ducts.
The ACT Government's guide says a larger split can look after up to 80 square metres, enough for an open kitchen, dining and family room. Bedrooms down a hallway are a different story, and that's where a multi-split or a whole-home install comes in.
Letting a Geelong property? Check two star ratings
28.0% of Greater Geelong homes were rented in 2021. Under Victoria's rental standards, a non-ducted electric unit with a heating rating of 2 stars or more is an energy efficient fixed heater, before and after 1 March 2027. A cooling rating of 3 stars or more makes it an energy efficient fixed cooler too, which new and month-to-month agreements need from that date. One split with both ratings in the main living area covers both. Our rental heating guide has the exemptions.
What makes a Geelong split job bigger or smaller
The simplest install has the indoor unit on an outside wall and the outdoor unit on the ground right behind it. Each step away adds time: a second-storey room, a long pipe run around the house, a wall bracket instead of a ground pad, or a coastal block where the unit has to go somewhere less obvious to stay out of the wind and spray.
Then there's power. Mitsubishi Electric says a split needs its own dedicated power supply, so an older switchboard may need a licensed electrician first. And an old unit's refrigerant has to be recovered by a licensed technician before it comes out.
Questions to ask a Geelong split installer
- How did you size this unit, and what heating capacity does it give at 2 degrees outside?
- How far am I from the bay in corrosion terms, and what protection does this brand offer for the outdoor coil?
- Where exactly will the outdoor unit go, and will a neighbour hear it at night?
- Which ARC licence do you hold, and are you registered with the BPC for this work?
- Will I get the Certificate of Electrical Safety and the plumbing compliance certificate when you finish?
What we'd do
If we were putting a split in a Geelong home
We'd put the first split in the room the family uses on winter evenings, size it from a heat load with the heating figure front and centre, and keep the outdoor unit on the side of the house that catches the least salt and wind. Then we'd want a split specialist who works near the water regularly, because they'll know which brands' coastal options are worth having.
