Get Your Aircon Ready for Summer: A Perth Checklist

Perth summers do not ease in gently. One week you are still running reverse-cycle heating, the next it is 38 degrees and every fan in the house is going. If your air conditioner has been sitting idle since autumn, late winter and early spring is the smartest window to check it.

Why August beats December

Every aircon business in Perth sees the same pattern. The first proper heatwave lands, thousands of systems get switched to cooling for the first time in months, and every fault that quietly developed over winter shows up in the same week. Wait times stretch out, common parts run short, and you sweat through it.

Sorting it now means:

• A normal booking slot instead of an emergency callout
• Time for any parts to arrive before you actually need the system
• Small faults found while they are still cheap to fix
• No rushed decision about repairing or replacing in the middle of a heatwave

The check you can do yourself

Run through this before you call anyone. It either gives you peace of mind or tells you exactly what to report when you book.

1. Run it in cooling mode for 15 to 20 minutes. Do not just check that it switches on.
2. Feel the air at the vent. It should be properly cold, not simply moving. As a rough guide, expect roughly 8 to 12 degrees cooler than the room air.
3. Listen for anything new. Rattles, grinding or a fresh hum usually point to something mechanical. Our guide on noises and smells covers what each one tends to mean.
4. Pull out and wash the filters. A blanket of dust on the filter is the single most common cause of weak airflow. Warm water, mild detergent, and let them dry completely before refitting.
5. Clear around the outdoor unit. Leaves, spider webs and creeper growth choke it. Aim for around 300mm of clear space on all sides, and more above.

Homes in the foothills and around the Swan Valley tend to collect more leaf litter and dust in the outdoor unit than inner suburbs, so it is worth a closer look out there.

Warning signs worth acting on now

• Water dripping inside from the indoor unit, which usually means a blocked condensate drain
• Weak airflow even after the filters are clean, pointing to a dirty coil or a duct problem
• Ice on the pipework, which can indicate low refrigerant or an airflow fault. Our re-gas page explains when gas is genuinely the issue
• An error code on the wall controller, which is the system telling you what is wrong before it fails
• A musty smell when it starts up, usually mould in the fan barrel or drain tray
• Tripping the breaker, which needs looking at straight away

Any of these are worth booking aircon repair for now rather than in January.

What a pre-summer service actually covers

A proper service is more than a filter wipe. On a wall split, our split system service covers a coil and barrel clean, drain flush, refrigerant pressure check, electrical connections and running amps, and a test of the thermostat and modes.

On ducted, the ducted service adds indoor fan and return air checks, zone motor testing, and a look through accessible ductwork for damage or disconnected flex. If you are not sure how bad things are, a health check is the cheapest way to find out.

If the system is near the end

Once a unit passes 12 to 15 years, repair costs start stacking up against a new system that will run on far less power. Before you decide, work out what you actually need with the aircon size calculator, then look at ducted installation or browse units in the shop.

Set up a cheaper summer

• Set cooling to 24 degrees. Every degree lower adds meaningfully to the bill
• Close doors and blinds on rooms you are not using
• Use zoning properly rather than cooling the whole house by default
• Keep filters clean monthly through summer
• Put servicing on a schedule with a maintenance plan so it never gets forgotten

Ten minutes of checking now, or a service booked before the rush, is what stands between a comfortable December and a very long week waiting for a technician. If anything above sounds familiar, book a time while there are still slots.