Early preview. We're still finishing this site, so some details shown are placeholders.
Installers aim to call you within the hour.
Find my aircon

Sydney, New South Wales

Heating and cooling in SydneyTwo climates in one city, and your system has to suit yours.

An installer for Sydney

Licence-checked installers in Sydney who specialise in your kind of job see it, and the one who takes it calls you to quote.

  • Goes to installers who specialise in your job
  • Licences checked: ARCtick and the state register
  • Free for you: installers pay us for each job we pass on
  • Only the installer who takes your job gets your details

Sydney is really two heating and cooling climates. Near the coast, summers are humid and the sea breeze helps; out west, Penrith averages 67 days a year above 30 degrees and Richmond averages 17 nights below zero. Reverse cycle air conditioning handles both seasons in most homes, but the right size, system and paperwork depend on which part of Sydney you're in and what you live in.

What's different about heating and cooling in Sydney

East and west sit in different climate zones

The National Construction Code puts Sydney East in climate zone 5 (warm temperate) and Sydney West in zone 6 (mild temperate). On the ABCB's map, the western council areas from Penrith and Blacktown down to Camden and Campbelltown are zone 6.

The sea breeze stops short

North-easterly sea breezes cool the eastern edge of Sydney on summer days but don't reach 9 km inland, so the western suburbs run 6 to 10 degrees hotter than the CBD in late spring and summer. Penrith hit 48.9 degrees on 4 January 2020; Observatory Hill's record is 45.8.

Humid by the water, drier out west

At Observatory Hill, January afternoons average 60% relative humidity and February 62%. Penrith's January afternoons average 47%. On the coast, how well a system pulls moisture out of the air matters almost as much as how cold it blows.

Winter is mostly a western story

Observatory Hill has never recorded a frost. Richmond averages 38 nights a year below 2 degrees, Camden Airport's July mean minimum is 3.0 degrees, and AdaptNSW says the upper Blue Mountains typically has more than 70 nights below 2.

Units, terraces and houses

At the 2021 Census, 30.7% of Greater Sydney's occupied homes were flats or apartments and 12.8% were semis, terraces or townhouses, while 55.8% were separate houses.

Who supplies the gas and the power

Mains gas reaches Sydney homes through Jemena's network. The electricity networks belong to Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy, with Endeavour's covering the Greater West and the Blue Mountains.

Which jobs come up most in Sydney, and why?

Split systems in units and terraces. With so many Sydney homes in strata buildings or on narrow blocks, the single-room split is the everyday job, and the tricky part is where the outdoor unit can go. See split system installation in Sydney.

Ducted reverse cycle in houses, especially out west. ActronAir says an air conditioner loses cooling capacity above 35 degrees, and Western Sydney averages 10 to 20 such days a year. A ducted system in Penrith or Campbelltown has to be sized for that afternoon. More on ducted in Sydney.

Servicing before summer, repairs during it. Daikin suggests a licensed technician looks over a unit at the start of every summer. In Sydney, a system that sat idle through a mild winter is better checked in spring than on the first hot day.

Gas heaters in the colder suburbs. Homes on Jemena's network that heat with gas need a licensed gasfitter's service at least every two years, going by Energy Safe Victoria's advice.

Living in a strata building?

In a Sydney unit, a new reverse cycle air conditioner is a minor renovation under NSW strata rules. Approval takes a majority (more than 50%) of the votes cast at a strata meeting, or the committee's say-so where a by-law allows it.

Changes to the outside or the structure of the building are major renovations, needing a special resolution, and work on common property may need a by-law change. Where the outdoor unit and pipes go can decide which applies, so talk to your strata manager before collecting quotes. Our apartments and strata guide covers the practical side.

The ESS discount, and who can do the work

Sydney households may be eligible for an upfront discount under the NSW Energy Savings Scheme (ESS) on a new energy efficient air conditioner, or on replacing an old one. It doesn't come from the NSW Government: the installer partners with an Accredited Certificate Provider, which works independently of it. Sign the nomination form before installation begins, and know that gas space heaters installed from 1 July 2026 aren't eligible. Our ESS guide has the detail.

Air conditioning work in NSW needs a licence or certificate, including the associated wiring, and advertising it without a current contractor licence is banned. Service NSW's online check finds a licence by name, number, ABN or suburb; our licence guide shows how.

What we'd do

If it were our Sydney home

We'd start with the postcode. On the coast, we'd size a reverse cycle system for humid summers without oversizing it, and ask about salt if we could see the harbour or hear the surf. Out west or up in the mountains, we'd size for the hottest afternoons and check the heating output for frosty mornings. In a unit, we'd get the strata answer before the first quote. Then we'd want an installer who does that exact job every week. Send us the job and licence-checked installers who cover your part of Sydney and do that work will see it. If none of them takes it within 48 hours, installers in the rest of NSW may see it as well.

What this work looks like

Photos from real jobs in Melbourne, to show what the work looks like. They aren't from an installer near you.

Two ducted outdoor units on a retaining wall
Two ducted outdoor units on a retaining wall. Oct 2023. A job in Melbourne.
A split system outdoor unit on a timber deck
A split system outdoor unit on a timber deck. Jul 2023. A job in Melbourne.
Two heat pumps for hydronic heating down the side of a house
Two heat pumps for hydronic heating down the side of a house. A job in Melbourne.

More job photos

Heating and cooling jobs in Sydney

Suburbs and areas around Sydney

Questions people ask

Do Sydney homes need heating as well as cooling?
Most do, but how much depends on where you are. Observatory Hill in the CBD has never recorded a frost, while Richmond averages 17 nights a year below zero. A reverse cycle system does both, so in the west, look at its heating capacity as closely as its cooling.
Is evaporative cooling a good fit for Sydney?
Mostly not near the coast. Seeley, which makes evaporative coolers, says they generally perform best in hot, dry climates and doesn't recommend them in humid ones. Penrith's January afternoons are drier, at 47% humidity, so it's more of a western Sydney question. See evaporative or refrigerated.
Are there noise rules for air conditioners in Sydney?
Yes. NSW's Noise Control Regulation 2026 restricts the hours a home air conditioner can be used when it can be heard inside a neighbour's home. The EPA says the 2026 changes extended the permitted hours and exempt air conditioners during severe or extreme heatwaves.
Which climate zone is my Sydney suburb in?
It goes by council area. The ABCB's map puts Penrith, Blacktown, The Hills, Parramatta, Cumberland, Fairfield, Liverpool, Camden and Campbelltown in zone 6, and Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai, the Northern Beaches, Ryde, Sutherland, Canterbury-Bankstown and the inner city in zone 5.
Do you have installers in every part of Sydney?
Not necessarily, and we won't pretend to. Sydney jobs are seen by licence-checked local installers who specialise in the work and cover that area. If nobody local takes yours within 48 hours, installers from other parts of New South Wales may see it too.

Ready for the right installer to take a look in Sydney?

Your postcode and three quick questions. Licence-checked local installers who specialise in your kind of job see it, and the one who takes it gets in touch to quote.

Free for you. Installers pay us for each job we pass on.

Read next

  1. 01NSW Energy Savings SchemeHow the ESS discount works on a new or replacement air conditioner, and what's left out.
  2. 02Apartments, units and strata approvalBody corporate approval, outdoor unit spots, pipe routes and noise rules for apartments.
  3. 03Split systems or ducted?House size, the rooms you use, zoning and efficiency: how to pick between splits and ducted.
  4. 04Air conditioning near the coastSalt, coil coatings, warranty fine print and where the outdoor unit should go near the sea.
  5. 05Aircon noise rules and neighboursQuiet hours, decibel limits by state, and how to place an outdoor unit so the neighbours don't notice.
  6. 06Heating and cooling in New South WalesNSW air conditioning licences, the Service NSW check, the ESS discount and strata approval.

Where this information comes from

We don't publish prices. Every home is different, so an installer's written quote is the only real number. How we write and check these pages.

Find my aircon