Split system installation across the Sunshine Coast.

Heat-load sizing first — not a floor-area guess.

The single biggest mistake in split-system installs is wrong sizing. We measure the room, then factor orientation, ceiling height, glazing, insulation and the humid Sunshine Coast summer into a heat-load calculation. As a rough guide a bedroom (up to ~20m²) suits 2.5kW, a medium living space (20–40m²) needs 3.5–5kW, and a large open-plan area (40–60m²) wants 6–8kW — but we confirm it properly. Oversized units short-cycle and leave the room cold but clammy; undersized units run flat out and never quite cool.

The install itself.

• Indoor head mounted level on a solid bracket, condensate drain run to a sensible discharge point
• Refrigerant pipework run, insulated and neatly ducted — back-to-back where possible, or routed through wall/roof cavity
• Outdoor condenser sited on a stand or wall bracket, kept out of the worst salt spray on coastal jobs
• Lines vacuumed and pressure-tested, then charged to the manufacturer’s spec
• Dedicated electrical circuit and isolator by a licensed electrician to AS/NZS 3000
• Cooling and heating tested, drain checked, controller demo before we leave

Realistic 2026 price bands.

Supplied and installed, a single wall-mounted split runs roughly $1,300–$2,600 for a 2.5–5kW unit and $2,800–$4,800 for a 7–9kW large living-area unit. Multi-head systems (one outdoor unit, several indoor heads) run $4,500–$9,000+ depending on head count. A simple back-to-back install with a short pipe run sits at the bottom of each band; long pipe runs, second-storey routing, a crane-lifted condenser and a switchboard upgrade push it up. We give you a fixed, itemised quote — no phone guesses.

Why we don’t cut corners.

Refrigerant handling on every split install must be done under an ARCtick Refrigerant Handling Licence, the install itself under the correct QBCC licence, and the electrical connection by a licensed electrician to AS/NZS 3000 (the Wiring Rules). The cheap unlicensed installs are the ones that leak gas, drip condensate into ceilings, trip the switchboard, and void your manufacturer warranty and home insurance. We vacuum and pressure-test properly, charge to spec, and document the install so your warranty stands up — the cooling you paid for, done once, done right.

Bigger job? See our ducted air conditioning page for whole-home cooling, or read about the local detail in Buderim. When you’re ready, get a free quote.