Split system replacement that retires the old unit properly

Not every failing split needs replacing, and we say so. A blocked drain, a dirty coil, a dead capacitor or a failed remote are repairs, and a service or a small part fixes them for years. If the symptom is one of those, start with the right guide: not cooling, not heating, leaking water or making noise. Many of those calls end with a clean and a part, not a new unit.

Replacement usually wins when the compressor has failed, when the unit is more than ten to fifteen years old and a major part has gone, when the coil has corroded through, or when the refrigerant keeps disappearing. A refrigerant leak in an old unit is the clearest case: topping up a system that has not been leak-tested and repaired is illegal, and a regas on a corroded coil is money spent on a unit that will leak again by next summer. Our regas guide covers what a proper regas involves.

Age matters for another reason. Older units often run on refrigerants that are being phased out, so gas for them is harder to source each year, and a new inverter unit can heat and cool the same room on far less electricity – our running costs guide has the detail. Tell the office the brand, the rough age and the symptom and you get a straight answer before anyone drives out.

Refrigerant recovery. Whatever gas is still in the old system is pumped into a recovery cylinder by an ARC-licensed technician before a single pipe is undone. It is never vented to the air. This is licensed work in Australia, and it is the step a cash-in-hand installer skips.

Removal. The outdoor unit comes off its bracket or slab, the indoor head comes off its wall plate, and the old pipes, drain and cable are pulled out of the wall or duct cover. If the old pipe run is corroded, kinked or the wrong size for the new unit, it is replaced. If it is sound and the same size, it can be flushed and reused, and we tell you which before the day.

Electrical. A like-for-like swap in the same spot can often reuse the existing circuit once a licensed electrician has tested it. A bigger unit, a moved unit or an old board means a new circuit, and the office prices that up front rather than on the day.

The wall. The old wall plate leaves a shadow and a row of holes. Where the new head covers them, nothing shows. Where it does not, we fill and tidy so the wall is presentable, and you see it in the finished photos.

Disposal. The old unit goes with us for recycling. Nothing is left on the nature strip.

A like-for-like replacement puts a unit of similar capacity in the same place, on the same pipe run and circuit where they pass inspection. It is the quickest and least expensive way to replace a split, and for a room that was comfortable with the old unit it is the right call.

It is also a chance to fix what the first installer got wrong. The most common things we see in Melbourne homes: a head mounted low over a bed where it blows straight onto the pillow, an outdoor unit crammed under a bedroom window, a drain that dribbles onto the paving, and a unit that was a size too small for a west-facing living room from the day it went in. Replacement is the best moment to move the head, re-route the drain or go up a size, because the wall is open anyway.

Brand does not have to match. You can swap a tired unit of one brand for any of the eleven brands on our split system installation page. Our sizing guide helps you decide whether the old size was ever right, and the office confirms it on the phone.

Every replacement finishes the same way as a new install: pipes vacuumed and pressure-tested, unit run in both modes, controller set up, photos taken, then you pay.